Like father, like daughter
by Loz06
Summary: Neil.Andrea & support cast see inside. Stand alone. A very early morning visitor and subsequent stay causes a lot of stress for Andrea which places strain on her relationship with Neil. Their unresolved issues and new ones have Andrea questioning if, desp
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Like father, like daughter

**Author**: Loz

**E-Mail**: loz06(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Rating**: Ranges from T to M.

**Category**: Neil. Andrea. _Supporting cast_ – OMC. Honey. Tony. OFC's. Gina. Yvonne. Sam. Jake.

**Series**: Stand alone.

**Spoilers**: So minor it shouldn't ruffle any feathers.

**Archive** (if applicable): www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net(slash)loz06

**Feedback**: The good, the bad and the very ugly it's all appreciated.

**Summary:** A very early morning visitor and subsequent stay causes a lot of stress for Andrea which places strain on her relationship with Neil. Their unresolved issues and new ones has Andrea questioning if, despite the fact she loves him, their relationship is working and can last.

**Authors' notes: **See end note. Also I get sick, don't cure the sick so please excuse any glaring (or otherwise) medical inaccuracies, also any inaccuracies when it comes to forensic and investigative methods and any other policing aspects.

**Disclaimers**: Like I've said before, like I'll say again, I'm not associated with anyone from the Bill.

* * *

"Are you expecting anyone?" Neil Manson asks turning back over to spoon around Andrea Dunbar again, the clock and his reason for disconnecting contact from her revealed the frightening time of five am.

"Not at this hour." Andrea mumbles her eyes still closed, the insistent knocking at the front door had woken her as well. She turns over to face the man she's shared a bed and a life with for a few years now. There'd been the affair in the beginning that they'd somehow managed to keep a secret even to this day, a few eyebrows were raised though when they went public with their relationship, the Super was nervous for one. They'd waited a respectful six months after Neil's divorce in the hopes people would question the match of senior CID officer and uniform not the speed of the relationship.

The twelve months prior to that were tumultuous, Andrea had rid herself of Bruce with an article written under a pseudonym that became the demise of the officer known to Sun Hill as Gabriel Kent. There was a time when she thought Neil would turn her in and never trust her again but over the six months prior to his divorce she'd earned it back.

Andrea honestly didn't know if they were going to survive the six months immediately after that and it was a part of the reason they didn't disclose their relationship immediately after Neil's divorce. The divorce was reasonably amicable but fair on both parties though it was an adjustment for Neil, sometimes Andrea thought she saw resentment towards her in his eyes but she never stopped supporting him and they came through probably stronger because of it.

Neither ever counts the period of their affair as time together in public, day one is the day the divorce was finalised through to the three years, twenty weeks and one day that brought them to that morning. For twelve months after the divorce Neil had lived in a flat not far from Andrea, spending every night he didn't have Jake with her. He spent that twelve months making sure Jake was o.k., he had a lot of concern for his son and guilt about how the divorce would affect Jake, consequently Andrea never saw him of a weekend.

She remembers vividly the day she met Jake and the sympathy she felt for him realising how hard it must have been for him to meet her, to realise someone other than his mum would be forever with his dad. To this day Andrea feels he has never fully accepted her.

For those twelve months Jake adjusted to seeing Andrea with his father and in his flat, staying the night and going out together. In the beginning when Jake was around for the weekend Andrea would stay for just an hour or two, gradually moving to the difficulty of leaving in the middle of the night or early in the morning so as not to be there when Jake woke, eventually Andrea stayed the night.

For the two years of seeing each other primarily of a week night, Neil and Andrea came to work each day tired.

Shortly after that Neil had moved in with her and Jake on the weekends, they'd been living together for over twelve months.

Together officially for just over three years, unofficially for longer.

There were more times than Andrea could count after the divorce when she became frustrated by the pace in when Neil needed to progress for Jake's sake. The two years in which they weren't living together were long and often uncomfortable for Andrea when the three of them were together, she didn't dare complain, always in the back of her mind was how she'd lied and deceived Neil. It was what Neil felt was best for his son and what he needed to do and Andrea told herself Jake is more accepting of her because of the way he was allowed to gradually adjust.

The upside was not living together right after telling Sun Hill avoided the inception of rumours about the speed of the relationship and a possible affair.

* * *

"Could it be Philippa?" Andrea asks bringing up another adjustment she had to make and accept. No matter what happened Philippa would still be in Neil's life because of Jake.

Although she didn't know about the affair and Andrea was always polite, partly out of guilt, Philippa was always cool but polite when they spoke. Andrea knew it had nothing to do with her personally, the frosty reception would greet whoever was with Neil, the new girlfriend or wife had to be treated with suspicion, it could never be admitted she's better than the first wife and she must always be kept at arms length. It was a law written somewhere, helping first wives the world over cope, especially when new significant other was younger like Andrea is.

Andrea knew it also couldn't be easy to watch another woman play parent to your son though Andrea let Neil do most of the parenting, working her way in gradually and on things not major, things Neil had set rules on already and would support her on.

"No she wouldn't just show up she'd call first if it wasn't serious and if it was she'd call anyway." Neil says his voice muffled by the small space between them. "Maybe if we ignore it they'll go away."

As if on cue the person on the other side of the front door knocks again.

"You go I'm not dressed." Neil excuses himself; Andrea can feel his cotton boxers against her thigh.

"Neither am I." She complains none-the-less extracting herself from the bed and pulling her dressing gown over her bedtime attire. Neil rolls onto his stomach gathering the majority of the blankets over him. Andrea half stumbles her way to the door, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to wake up before she gets to the door.

"Hello sweetheart, how are you?" The booming cheerful voice asks, too cheerful for this early in the morning, Andrea works her eyes up the person standing at her doorway, the stocky solid legs, the stomach enlarged from alcohol and fine food, the beard that Andrea's never seem him without.

* * *

To be continued…In part two.

**End note**: This part was just setting the scene; things will start moving in the next section. The rating will also increase to M and remain there, please look out for updates; I know sometimes M stories can be invisible to me. Obrigado, Lauren.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

"Dad," Andrea knows her face must look shocked her voice definitely sounds so. "What are you doing here?" She questions and then adds, "It's good to see you, this is a surprise." Andrea's not really sure what to say, she's impressed she managed anything.

"I know." Her father says opening his arms for Andrea to be dwarfed into; though she is like her father in many ways she'd acquired her mother's stature unlike her brothers. His hugs had been one constant thing in her life till she came to London, as a child they were a source of immense comfort and security. Later when she was no longer naïve about the world she still humoured him because he thought his embrace still eased her mind. "This is actually a spot inspection of the property." He jokes and the hearty laugh she remembers so fondly returns, his body moves joyfully with his laughter against Andrea, reminding her why he was such a successful Santa at the shopping centres for many years.

A draft of wind whips up the stairwell, curling its way under her dressing gown as her father lets her go. "Come inside." Andrea directs noticing he has no luggage with him.

Well over the initial shock of her father, who lives hours away and doesn't really travel, turning up on her doorstep early in the morning Andrea starts to have the uneasy feeling that something is going on. "If I'd have known you were coming I'd have gotten you from the airport."

Andrea watches her father cast an eye over each inch of her living room. "Oh I didn't fly."

That much is no surprise to Andrea, her father hates flying and will avoid it if possible, "The train station?"

In the years since she's been in London Andrea has always gone home to visit not the other way around.

"Nope," He picks up an ornament Andrea has resting on the dining table.

"You drove?" The option makes her even more suspicious, her father has never shown any desire to see the world and is of the opinion all a man needs can be found in Dalkeith or on the occasional trip to Edinburgh.

"All last night," He says proudly.

"All last night," Andrea repeats, distracted she has forgotten about Neil who's still in bed. Her father moves on picking a candle from the coffee table. There's definitely something going on because her father doesn't drive hours through the night and he hates city traffic. Andrea would be worried or panicked if she could just come up with an idea of what's going on.

"Does mum know you're here?" Andrea asks gently.

"She's not my keeper." He laughs and Andrea's immediately jolted with worry. She's never seen her parents argue, she knows they do but when she was at home it was always done behind closed doors, to 'protect' her. She feels a little queasy at the idea her mother might have kicked her out or he left her.

"I don't want to seem like it's not great to see you dad but it's five in the morning and I have no earthly idea why you drove all night and you're here?" Andrea says as gently as possible, she's feeling wide awake now.

"Can't a father visit his daughter sometimes?" It's the second time he hasn't answered the question she'd asked, it adds to her anxiety. This time he jovially turns the question back onto her, an attempt to make her feel bad for questioning his presence. He also seems oblivious to the early hour.

"Sure dad, of course, especially since he owns the flat she lives in." Andrea smiles warmly, now's not the time to push for reasons and answers, it's a time to be welcoming they can discuss details at a more decent hour and there's still Neil tucked up warm in their bed.

With Andrea's deception, a divorce and Jake they needed some time for themselves, to come up for air and concentrate on their relationship, neither had introduced the other to their parents. Honestly Andrea enjoyed that fact; it made their relationship like a special room only she and Neil had access to, along with a few others, mostly Jake, on limited occasions. It became a little less special the day they decided to tell Sun Hill and from there the room started to feel like it was getting crowded.

Andrea had spoken to her mother about Neil on the phone, editing certain aspects of their relationship including the fact they're living together. It never crossed her mind to hand the phone over to Neil and her mother never asked. There was never any chance Neil would inadvertently pick up the phone when her parents called, they never did, Andrea's phone bill bore the brunt of the cost to stay in contact.

Now Neil was asleep scantily dressed in the next room to her father who'd appeared with no warning on her doorstep.

"I though I'd stay a while." Andrea immediately flicks off her thoughts. There are too many things to think about to come from that comment. He almost makes her feel inconvenienced and imposed on, things will have to happen sooner that she'd wanted all because her father seems to be escaping from something. Their special room will become a little more crowded. She feels guilty then because he's her father and she hardly ever sees him and she shouldn't feel like he's an imposition.

"Well there's the spare room." Andrea says cheerfully feeling overwhelmed all of a sudden, like someone's taken her life and shaken it, all-be-it gently. The dust will settle as soon as she's spoken to her mother and found out what is going on. "Dad how about you make some coffee while I go and get dressed?"

"Thanks sweetheart." Andrea eyes the photo of herself and Neil on the bookshelf as her father disappears into the kitchen, when he's gone she puts it in the nearest drawer.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

In the bedroom Andrea closes the door and stands against it with her back flat, she takes a deep breath and expels it slowly. 

"Who was at the door?" Neil asks, still hidden by a mound of blankets and a duvet.

"My father," Andrea sighs. "He's inside now."

"Your father?" Neil repeats propping himself up and finally appearing; he rubs his eyes and pushes back the covers.

"Yeah, you know pa, pappa, pappy, pop, pops, dad, daddy, the old man." Although only early Andrea's voice already betrays the stress of her fathers visit.

"Yeah I get it." Neil mumbles.

"The sperm donor," Andrea jokes without a smile, her head tilts to one side.

"Please don't ever reduce me to such a level." Neil requests. "Come and sit down." He pushes back what's left of the covers on Andrea's side of the bed. She crawls onto the bed pulling the blanket over her legs, her head hangs and she rubs her face in the palms of her hands.

"Oh, he says he's going to stay a while." Andrea flicks her face from her hands to look at Neil, help me written all over her features. She has no idea what's going on much less what to do about it.

"What's a while?" Neil asks sleepily, he takes her hand squeezing it supportively.

"Six seconds, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, take your pick, I don't know. There's something not right about this." Neil leans over holding her cheek he kisses her forehead and Andrea spills everything she's discovered about how her father came to be here and what he's like in himself.

"The strangest thing is he drove, he only drives when he has to, he makes mum drive the rest of the time, and I keep thinking mum's kicked him out or something but he's so upbeat."

"The good mood might be for your benefit to make you think nothing's wrong, either that or he's been drinking coffee to stay awake all night, do they have a history of kicking each other out?" Like Andrea Neil stares across the foot of the bed to the bedroom wall that separates them from the living room.

"No, but something's not right." It's obvious from Andrea's voice she just can't put her finger on what it is.

"This isn't exactly how I pictured meeting him." Neil pushes back the covers, he yawns as his feet hit the floor.

"Me either." Andrea yawns herself as Neil pads into the adjacent bathroom. "You won't meet him, I'll take him out to breakfast and you can sneak out, we'll do it tonight after you've had the day to prepare yourself, me too for that matter and I can find out what's going on."

In the bathroom the toilet flushes drowning out any ability Andrea had to hear what was going on with her father beyond her bedroom wall.

"Why do you need to prepare yourself to introduce me?" Neil says from the bathroom, the tap running. "Need time to come up with a few extensions of the truth do you?" Andrea smiles into her lap and then at Neil as he climbs back into bed.

"You know I wouldn't change anything about you." Andrea sighs as Neil kisses her neck. "Not even…" Andrea stops herself, mentioning Neil's sons name while he kisses and nibbles at her neck in bed is a definite mood killer.

"My receding hairline?" Neil lifts his lips long enough to say.

"I'm going to be so traumatised by this; I'm going to need serious counselling." Andrea sighs and lets herself get carried away in the feel of his soft lips. She tilts her head to the side giving him greater access and lets out a satisfied sigh. Her lips search for his, disengaging his from her neck with the better offer, in one move she rolls herself on top of Neil, increasing the intensity of their kisses. She feels the need to escape from the events of the last less than a half an hour and she does so in his arms and masculine scent.

When his hands slide between their bodies, pulling at the tie of her dressing gown, Andrea impatiently pulls it off her shoulders and then off all together when Neil releases it. Her lips assault his neck as she feels his hands slide down to her waist gathering the end of her singlet in his hands and gently pushing it up. Andrea pulls her body weight off Neil's, her calves rest next to his thighs, her lips find his once again, the arm she's not using to support her body weight trails up his chest from his navel through the dusting of chest hair. With greater access this time Neil pushes her singlet higher, relieved Andrea seems to have forgotten the problems outside the door.

"What am I doing?" Andrea says suddenly, sitting up like she's spring loaded. "You're undressing me in here, you're practically naked and my father is in the next room."

"You're not a kid anymore and I'm not someone you picked up off the street, it's been four odd years." Neil pulls at the hem of her singlet encouraging her to come back down to him.

"So why do I feel the need to act as though I'm fifteen with all the restrictions that come with living at home at that age?" Andrea asks climbing off Neil and out of the bed.

As her dressing gown goes back on Neil groans. "Andrea you can't do this to me." They'd become pleasantly accustomed to having sex in the morning, not long after they'd moved in together they went through months of coming home exhausted at night, turning something pleasurable into one more thing to be endured before they could go to sleep.

Since their relationship became public knowledge at Sun Hill both had been working long hours. Neil needed the people above and below him to see he was past the divorce and he wanted his career back on track. Andrea wanted a spot in CID and the harder she worked for it the less questions of impropriety there would be when she got it, she took up every training opportunity that was offered.

Neither was keen to give those at Sun Hill reluctant to bless their relationship reason to think their reluctance was justified.

Andrea steps closer to the bed and whispers. "He's killed the mood for me Neil; he might as well be sitting in that chair." She indicates to the one in the corner with Neil's clothes from yesterday strewn over it.

Neil sits up, "So…you still wound me up and walked away."

Finding it a tiny bit funny Andrea sits on the edge of the bed trying to hide her smile, she leans in to kiss him an apology.

"Kissing me to apologise doesn't help, it has the opposite effect." Neil leans back, rejecting the display of affection.

"You've got the clear-up rate report due." Andrea says sedately.

"Yeah that did it." Neil says falling back onto the pillows. From the next room the TV comes to life.

"Oh God, he's making himself at home." Andrea sighs.

She leans over to kiss Neil anyway. "I'm going to have a shower, don't come out of this room." The frustrated groan she's met with makes her laugh though none of the morning is funny, already she's starting to miss their morning intimacy.

Andrea showers quickly knowing she's been a while for someone who was going to change and it's getting around to the time she and Neil would be getting up anyway.

"When are you getting up?" Andrea asks of Neil as she dresses quickly.

"As soon as you leave," Neil says not sitting up or looking the least bit ready to get up for work.

"Can you send me a message when you're out of here? So I know it's safe to have dad come back." Andrea rushes pulling on pants and a top.

"Mmm-Hmm," Neil agrees not moving.

At six, dressed, made up and ready for work Andrea opens her bedroom door, steps through and closes it again behind her. "Come on dad we're going for breakfast."

She manages to sound as perky as he did when he first arrived at her door.

"Oh no, I'm fine really." He changes the channel with the remote that Andrea quickly grabs and uses to turn off the morning TV drabble.

"You've got to eat something you've been driving all night." Andrea argues and her father seems partially convinced.

"Don't you have something here we could eat?" He counters and at that point Andrea wants to drag him out of the door.

"Nope, I'm a single woman dad; I eat out all the time." Her words immediately set off warning bells with Andrea as she suspects they will with her father, her mother must have told him about Neil. She knows the reason she denies she's with anyone is so she doesn't have to battle her fathers insistence to meet Neil, he would have to realise Neil could be here. Still it could be just as longer conversation if he challenged her on the single comment though not as embarrassing has having to come outright and explain Neil is in the next room.

She needs to call her mother, find out what's going on, and give Neil time to prepare.

"Is there someone here Andrea, someone you don't want me to meet?" The pay off for the question she plans to lie about is the fact he stands out of the sofa.

"No, there's just you and I here dad, look this is what I do each morning when I go to work, I get breakfast on the run at this little café. Today I'm going a little early but I'm going to sit down with you and catch up, come on you can get a decent cup of coffee." He agrees and Andrea walks behind him to the door so he can't back out.

"Do you want to drive, I can give you directions." Andrea offers but figures he'll stay no.

"I hate city traffic." Andrea knew that, she ducks into the kitchen to pick up her keys, untrusting that her father won't wander back into the living room like a dog that always needs to be on its lead.

"Take my keys and go to the car I've just got to get my bag." Andrea opens her front door encouraging her father out; once he's three steps down she shuts it behind her, making sure it's locked. Once again she breathes deeply with her back flat against the door before going back to the bedroom.

She picks up her bag and leans across the bed to kiss Neil. "Bye." She pulls back but he encourages her back for a sweeter kiss.

"Come see me today." He requests and Andrea kisses him one last time, it's instantly translatable to yes.

"Oh, do you have any money?" Andrea asks remembering at the door. If she could see Neil he'd be rolling his eyes.

"My wallet's in the kitchen in the usual place." Neil says rolling onto his back.

'Shit I sent dad in there' Andrea curses in her head. "Thanks," is what rolls off her tongue to Neil. She leaves the bedroom door open.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Granted a lot of mornings Andrea stops into the café, she pulls up a couple of car lengths away from it this morning, but she's never been this early. Because it's always open when Andrea stops in and that's around the same time, she's never noticed the hours of business. As she releases her seatbelt she just hopes they're open.

As she orders she feels for Neil who will have to put something together in the flat, it's nearly shopping day and basic essentials are dwindling or getting long in the tooth.

"You should call mum this morning, let her know you got there safely." Andrea says as they sit and wait for their coffee and food.

"She knows I'm fine." Her father brushes off.

"Dad she could be worried about you." Andrea says further concerned something has gone on between her parents.

"She worries too much, enough for the whole family." He comments, the contents of which are no comfort to Andrea.

"Dad is everything o.k. with you and mum, did you have a fight?" Andrea leans in closer.

"We fight all the time, every couple does." He continues to smile with frustrates Andrea along with his refusal to spill any details. Andrea leans back again into the depths of the chair. "You know back home if you were a regular like you say you are they'd know you by name."

"They know me dad, I investigated the break in they had six months ago. They don't like to talk about it, it nearly sent them broke." Andrea can't help her tone being short and snappy.

"I never should have bought into this neighbourhood." Andrea's father shakes his head.

"The neighbourhood is fine dad, I'm fine." Andrea can fell herself becoming annoyed. He backs down and there's silence between father and daughter.

"What about your job dad?" Andrea asks as their coffee lands in front of them. "Have they given you time off?" That's assuming this trip wasn't spontaneous Andrea thinks to herself.

"I've got plenty of time owing." Her father replies, another non specific answer that has Andrea reaching for her coffee, the first of what will be many today she assumes. She watches her father drop sugar after sugar into his.

"You want some coffee with your sugar there dad?" Andrea asks.

"Sound like your mother." He replies and his near grumble is as close as she's got to ridding him of his overbearing cheerfulness. She allows there to be silence until their food arrives.

"So what are you going to do today dad, I'm sorry but I can't take time off work to spend with you, I don't have any owing." Andrea can feel herself warming up to be polite again.

"Thought I'd see the sights, get to know the town." Another out of character reply that has Andrea suspicious again. Her father has no desire to see the world and didn't bother to see London when he was down to buy her flat.

"I have a street directory I could lend you, it's in the back of my car, it was a big help when I first moved here." Andrea knows the offer will be refused.

"I'm not going to drive, is there are tube station close by?" Andrea's father asks slicing through his egg.

"I'll show you on the way back to the flat, you better take the directory you don't want to get lost." Andrea pulls at a piece of her toast.

"No I'll be fine; I'll just wander around and find my way back." Andrea knows her father is one of the only men on the planet not to have a good sense of direction. She gives up taking a rest before attacking again.

"So how long do you think you'll stay dad?" Andrea tries the casual approach.

"Not sure, sick of me already, trying to get rid of me?" Her father jokes.

"No not at all, it's just I noticed you didn't have any bags with you this morning." Keeping her tone casual, Andrea takes another mouthful of coffee.

"Oh those, I left them in the car," at last one thing that makes a tiny bit of sense, though clearly Andrea's not going to get a definitive answer on the length of her father's stay, "Actually I'm thinking of selling it."

"While you're here?" Andrea immediately realises this is strange. When her father's mechanic told him the old car would go forever as long as he kept it in good condition all of the family knew he'd have to be buried in it.

"Sure as good a time as any."

"You'd have to fly back or get the train." Andrea wonders if he'd thought of that.

"I'd get something else."

"Well sure if you have all the paperwork and stuff." Andrea says hesitantly but lets the conversation die.

It's seven by the time they've finished eating and Andrea's desperate for Neil's message. She's kept her father entertained through two coffee refills and a recount of her most unusual and exciting days on patrol, much longer and she'd have to start making things up. The message comes at a quarter past seven.

"Who's that from?" Her father asks as Andrea sends a message to Neil to let him know she'll see him at work.

"One of the girls I work with wants to know if I want to get a coffee before work." If it were the case Andrea would decline, she's already had so much she could fly to work. "Let's go dad it's getting late."

* * *

On the stairs up to her flat Andrea notices for the first time how slowly her father walks, a deterioration that's occurred in the last few years, despite the occasional visit she hadn't really noticed till now. 

"Here dad, take my keys." She pulls the two bronze keys from her set.

"What if I'm out when you get home?" Andrea doubts that but she humours him none-the-less. "I have a spare hidden."

"You shouldn't do that, anywhere you can hide keys thieves can find them." Her father warns.

"Anyone is welcome to the hand-me-down furniture from you and mum," Andrea jokes and smiles, "Have you got money?" She hopes he says no as she has little left of what she took from Neil this morning after breakfast.

"Yes I've got money; I certainly don't take money from my daughter or my sons." Her father says indignantly and Andrea realises she made the mistake of denting her fathers pride.

"O.k. dad, sorry, have a good day, I'll see you when I get home and call my mobile if you need anything." Andrea kisses him on the cheek goodbye.

"Be safe sweetheart and you have a good day too." He wishes and unlocks the door, shuffling inside.

Downstairs as Andrea goes back to her car she notices the smashed headlight and slight dint in the front left side of her father's car. She tries not to think anything of it.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

"You look frazzled." Honey says as Andrea tries for the third time to button her white shirt up.

"My father," Andrea says through gritted teeth, "Showed up unannounced on my doorstep at five this morning." Andrea finally accomplishes her simple task.

"Oh fun." Honey says with sympathy.

"Actually inconvenient, weird and uncomfortable." Andrea puts her own take on the morning, tucking her now buttoned shirt in.

"Uncomfortable." Honey repeats as though singularly the word is a question. "Oh DI Manson he hasn't met him has he?"

"Neil, no, neither of us has met each others parents." Andrea notices Honey's not comfortable enough to use Neil's first name although they're alone.

"That must have been awkward." Honey says in her usual forty watt manner.

"I had to get dad out of the flat to breakfast with me so Neil could shower and get to work so he can meet dad tonight when he's had some time to get used to the idea instead of having it sprung on him at some un-Godly hour when he's still half asleep." Andrea recounts her morning.

"I'll never get used to that, you and him and calling him Neil. I've always wondered what you call him when you're here at Sun Hill."

"Neil when we're alone, DI Manson when we have company and business." Andrea closes her locker door. "It's been three years Honey. I told you to call him Neil when we're alone but not to expect me to gossip about our lives at Sun Hill or away from it."

"I know, I just…" Honey trails off.

"You don't know what I see in him." Andrea finishes, it's the question half of Sun Hill must still have on their lips.

"He's…"Andrea starts. "Oh hell it's a father type day, he's my father, and you know the old cliché girls marry blokes that are like their fathers." Andrea laughs to the point of nearly crying as she back tracks in her mind over the morning. "It's a million small things Honey and he makes me so happy."

"I know what you mean luv; I used to have that with Scott." Honey puts her arms around Andrea, melancholy about the man who made her happy but murdered his first wife and took his own life.

"I don't need to be working this morning, I need to be calling mum and sorting out whatever's going on." Andrea says putting her arms around Honey.

"Who are you partnered with?" The two women release each other from their embrace.

"I don't know." Andrea puts on her belt.

"Pray for someone nice who'll cover you while you sort everything out." Honey suggests, "If it's me no problem, take as long as you need."

"Thanks Honey." Andrea smiles gratefully.

"Good luck with it, rather you than me." Honey says as she heads out of the locker room to the briefing.

"Rather anyone but me." Andrea says to an empty room.

* * *

"Andrea, I believe I have the pleasure of your company today." Tony Stamp towers over Andrea and teenage thugs but he's a gentle giant and about the best person Andrea could be paired with today. 

"I'm not sure I'm going to be a pleasure today." Andrea says itching to get on the phone.

"Well you just come on and tell your uncle Tony your problems." He says as though Andrea is three and her doll has lost its head. A large arm goes around the back of Andrea's shoulders.

"It's a saga Tony, a long one." Andrea sighs but can't help smiling in the jovial and humourous officer's presence, in some ways he reminds her of her father, mostly their similar stature.

"Good, I feel it's going to be a slow, crime free day, it'll pass the time. Just edit out the bits with DI Manson." And Andrea laughs.

"After three years people still aren't used to him and I being together." Andrea can only laugh; she'd thought about it years back and figured it would probably seem strange if she were reversed with Honey but Neil didn't come up often enough in conversation for her friends discomfort to worry her.

"No it's not that my dear, there are just some things a man doesn't want to know about another man when they have to call him sir." Andrea laughs feeling her worries lighten a little.

* * *

Andrea spends the first hour in the area car telling Tony her saga; she concentrates on her father's out of character actions and refusal to give a definitive answer. In the tale of events she tells Tony, Neil is mentioned only as being in 'the other room'. 

"From what you've told me his actions sound very out of character." Tony says negotiating a turn and although she shouldn't Andrea dials the number of the place she used to call home.

"I can't wait until refs." Andrea verbalises the excuse she comes up with in her head, "Besides this conversation is going to take longer than refs."

After twelve unanswered rings Andrea gives up with a heavy sigh.

"Its nine thirty could she be at the shops?" Tony suggests slowing to observe a group of youths whom it turns out aren't doing anything other than looking suspicious.

"I don't know, not living there anymore and everything." Andrea says frustrated. A radio call keeps her occupied for the next half an hour.

As Tony wrangle's the latest guest of Sun Hill custody, Andrea looks at her watch, it's already ten thirty.

"Tony." She says tipping her head towards the front area of the station, looking pleadingly at him.

"Go on I'll catch up." He nods and Andrea looks gratefully at him, she knows after this she'll owe him one. The computer room is almost empty allowing Andrea to easily find a chair at a desk. She punches in the number from heart willing her mother to answer as she puts the phone to her ear. If no one picks up this time she's only going to be even more concerned.

On the third ring Andrea's mother's cheerful voice says hello.

"Mum, its Andrea." She identifies herself seriously.

"Oh hello sweetheart how are you, I haven't heard from you in a while," the standard guilt trip.

"Is dad there?" Andrea asks as innocently as possible given she knows the answer.

"He's with you isn't he?" Her mother's tone indicates she finds the question an odd one.

"So you know." It makes Andrea feel somewhat better.

"Of course I do." Her mother says like Andrea asked who the queen was.

"Then what's going on mum?" Andrea lets her frustration be known.

"I don't know what you mean." It only serves to frustrate Andrea further.

"I mean why is he here, how did he get to be at my front door at five in the morning?"

"Oh it's just your father Andrea." Her mother laughs through another vague avoiding the issue reply Andrea's had since her father arrived. "He came home last night after being at Ross Napier's."

"Who?" Andrea searches her memory for a face to put to the name.

"You remember he lives on the road out of town that goes up into the hills, he's got a couple of acres, your father plays cards and drinks with him every Sunday night."

"I have no idea who you're talking about mum, I don't remember dad going anywhere on Sunday nights, let alone to someone's place to play cards." Andrea's frustration grows.

"Oh you do." Her mother playfully scolds. "Or maybe he's only played cards since you moved to London." Andrea starts to wonder if there isn't something in the water at her old home, her mother sounding a lot like her father. "Anyway he came home about nine and goes to bed; an hour later he's up packing a bag saying he's going to visit you."

"And you just let him; you didn't think that was strange." Andrea rubs her face in her free hand, amazed at her mother's actions.

"At first I thought he might have been sleepwalking but he went out to that car of his with a packed bag and kissed me goodbye." Andrea's mother recounts the previous night.

"What about his job mum, did he ask you to come with him; did he say how long he'd be gone for?" Andrea rattles off a few of the questions she has. Tony pokes his head into the room and Andrea rolls her eyes indicating she's getting nowhere. Tony points to his notepad and moves his hand like he has a pen in it, Andrea waves him in.

"I'm not his keeper Andrea, he told me where he was going and the fact it was your place wasn't unusual." Her mother seems to resent the questions probably rightfully so.

"Unusual I'm hours away, dad hates to drive and his front headlight is smashed and the front of the car a little damaged." Andrea turns on her concern.

"Well it wasn't like he said he was going somewhere I didn't know. He probably had a little accident at some stage, maybe even on the way to you. He would have taken care of it, a tree or something." At this time Andrea wishes she could have some of her mother's unquestioning faith.

"So the tree jumped out at him did it?" Andrea lets her frustration back.

"I don't know sweetheart, we are getting older you know." Another subtle reminder Andrea should be closer to home looking after her parents.

"Mum what's really going on?" Andrea drops the volume of her voice. "Did you kick dad out of the house?"

"No, I would never do that to your father, he's always been good to me, always and to you kids." Andrea regrets asking.

"It's just…you can understand why I'm finding it strange." Andrea back tracks and tries to explain why she asked the sensitive question. "He shows up at my door at five after driving all night, he hates the city. That's why I'm always the one who visits you not the other way around, you do the driving everywhere…"

"Is it a problem having him Andrea?" She can feel things are about to be placed back onto her. "I know you have that young man in your life." Andrea recognises her mother is so old fashioned though Neil would surely be flattered by being called a young man. If Andrea were to tell her mother she was living with Neil, Andrea imagines she would almost certainly say that's nice dear imagining Andrea and Neil in twin single beds.

"No mum, it's no problem, no problem at all." Andrea purposely sounds cheerful through the thoughts of all the problems. "How long is he staying?"

"I have no idea you'll have to ask him, just send him back in a week or so." The time frame Andrea finally gets is of little comfort.

"I can't do that mum he hates driving and he told me over breakfast this morning he's selling the car and getting a new one."

"Oh," Is her mother's only reply and the most annoying one of them all.

"Mum this is all very strange; he's vague with his answers." Andrea gets the feeling that getting her mother to understand will be something akin to mission impossible.

"Well he is forgetful," the answer if unhelpful.

"Mum can you call him at my flat and ask him what's going on?" Andrea sighs.

"No I won't, I'm not calling to check up on him like he's one of my children." Her mother sounds indignant.

"O.k. so you can't help me at all." Andrea follows up with a second sigh.

"You'll have to ask your dad all your questions." Like a split personality Andrea's mother is cheerful again.

"O.k. well thanks mum." Andrea tries to sounds pleasant.

"Good to talk to you sweetheart, I love you."

"Love you too, bye." Andrea hangs up. "It would have been better if you could tell me something, anything." Andrea says frustrated and out loud.

"No luck?" Tony ventures carefully.

"From that phone conversation I would swear to you Honey and I were born in the same hospital and we were sent home with the wrong parents." Andrea vents but Tony shakes his head.

"I've met Honey's mother." Andrea laughs at the look on Tony's face.

"Good to know I suppose."

"Least you're still smiling." Tony puts his notebook away.

"Can I tell uncle Tony all about it?" Andrea asks in her best child's voice while hanging her head.

"Once you've done your paperwork, Tony's counselling service only operates in the area car." He pats Andrea's shoulder sympathetically; Andrea pretends to cry for a moment before pulling out her notebook.

She again unloads her problems onto Tony's figurative and literal broad shoulders in the area car. As predicated it was a relatively slow morning.

"Neil will be grateful to you, you know that." Andrea says breaking a comfortable silence.

"Why's that?" Tony asks surprising Andrea given his earlier conditions.

"When I tell him all this I'll be less full on and intense because I've already told someone." Andrea explains.

"So I bore the brunt, happy to be of service." He says genuinely and cheerfully.

"I appreciate it too Tony." Andrea smiles across the car at him before flicking her look back to the road in front of them. "Are you hungry?"

Andrea doesn't have to say anymore as the area car pulls up in front the take-out store favoured by Sun Hill officers when they're sick of the canteen, they really shouldn't stop but Andrea takes Tony's order and money and heads inside, she owes him and someone else.

"You're not going to eat all of that." Tony says amazed when she hands over his change and puts his food on the back seat leaving a sizeable spread on her lap.

"It's not all for me, it's for…" Andrea stops knowing Tony probably won't want to know.

"Well ain't love grand." He comments.

"Yeah but living together and having parents turn up to visit unannounced isn't." Andrea balances the food as they round the corner back to Sun Hill for refs.

She pours out the reasons why she's buying Neil his midday meal whether Tony wants to hear it or not.

* * *

**Neil was busy writing his report in these parts and the supporting cast threatened mutiny if I didn't take them out of their box! Neil will be back in part 6...promise**.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

Andrea stopped carrying folders of irrelevant case work when she came to see Neil in his office a few months after they'd told the station. By that time it had simply become a habit that Neil teased her about once and she stopped immediately.

They never display affection for one another in the open at Sun Hill which put those who were hesitant about their relationship at ease and on side. They did have their moments behind closed doors, especially in the beginning but after Phil Hunter interrupted them mid kiss once, no one ever interrupted them again. When the door was closed and Andrea was in there it seems things waited though Andrea hoped that wasn't the case.

A few beady eyes cast over the food Andrea carries into CID but no one is taken by her presence anymore because of her relationship with Neil and because of the cases she volunteers to assist on when she can.

"Oh Andrea you shouldn't have. Fish and chips is it?" Ken Drummond jokes rubbing his Hawaiian clad stomach and walking towards her like a dog with the scent of a sausage.

"I didn't its tofu and leafy greens." Andrea replies keeping a straight face, a desk away Phil Hunter who was watching the exchange laughs loudly and Ken backs away quickly.

Andrea knocks on the door and waits until Neil says come.

"Oh thank God I'm starving." Neil says looking up from his report and putting his pen down as Andrea closes his office door behind her. He steps eagerly over to Andrea who remains behind the door; she puts her hand gently against his chest to stop him.

His look questions what's going on but he waits none-the-less as she puts the food on the edge of his desk and backtracks to where she was standing in front of him. Andrea sighs deeply as she runs her hands down Neil's forearms taking her hands into his. "I'm sorry about this morning; I'll make it up to us."

"Yeah in a month when your father's gone," Neil smiles as he says the words, his head tipped to one side.

"You're not the only one who missed out." Andrea elevates herself on her toes and her lips hover closer to his. "We could go to a motel."

"Just like the good old days of the affair." Neil plays along, desire growing in his eyes.

"We could slip down the corridor into an empty room with a lock on it or…" Andrea leans a fraction closer. "This room has a lock."

"I have that report due." Neil says in the same desirous manner he has for the whole conversation.

Once he's said it the whole exchange deflates, Andrea drops back off her toes, all desire lost to a mysterious vacuum. "That thing is a mood killer."

Neil smiles and kisses her nevertheless. "Hello."

"Hi." Andrea says smiling back before releasing him from her grip. Neil opens the containers and selects his lunch as Andrea opens the office door again.

"I'm starving there's nothing in the fridge, what there was left a lot to be desired."

"Dad will have to fend for himself, water and stale bread. I'm going shopping after work." Andrea sighs wondering what her father is doing and eating.

"I didn't know you were going to spring clean my wallet this morning either." Neil picks up a fork and moves his food around.

"Sorry, I had no cash on me and I didn't have time to get to a hole in the wall, a small meal for dad is a half a horse, I didn't have five pound to give him when I left him." She hopes it's the last apology she's inclined to make today.

"We should probably get a joint account." Neil says through a mouthful.

"Good idea, so Philippa can claim more child support." Andrea rolls her eyes realising she doesn't feel hungry at all.

"She can't take your money." Neil says matter-of-factly.

"No just more of yours because you're living with me and there's two wages and I could support us." Andrea puts her salad on Neil's desk in front of her; she's rapidly descending into a bad mood again.

"It doesn't matter how much you earn, it's about how much I earn." Neil insists and Andrea pushes her food further away.

"I can't eat that you have it, I have no appetite what-so-ever." Andrea looks down to her lap. "You know what I can't talk about this money thing right now, not with everything else that's going on today."

"You're right I'm sorry, let's drop it, we can revisit it later if you want." Neil puts down his own food. "Tell me the latest," So much for a working break.

Andrea lets spill the details of her breakfast with her father and the phone call to her mother, having already unloaded on Tony she's a lot more rational.

"Sounds like she's as much in the dark as we are," Neil comments picking up his food again.

"But if I got home in the middle of the night and said I was going to drive hours to see my daughter without reason wouldn't you find it strange?"

"We don't have a daughter." Neil says trying to inject some humour.

"Well Jake then." Andrea says her frustration not easing with the humour.

"You would do that for Jake?" Neil's soft tone pulls Andrea up, he back tracks to the fact he used the word 'we' and Andrea immediately switched to Jake. He can't help but wonder if that's an accident, in a rush to make her example she's not specific with her words or it's indicative of the fact Jake's growing on her.

"Of course," She echoes his tone. "But that's not the point."

"Yes I would think it's strange." Neil gets Andrea back onto the track she wants to be on. "Did you find out how long he's staying for?"

"My mum's words were 'just send him back after a week or so'; my father asked me if I was sick of him already and if I was trying to get rid of him." Andrea picks up her food again.

"Helpful." Neil scrounges for something more in the containers on the desk.

"Well he can't stay forever, at some point he's going to have to go home and face whatever it is he's avoiding." Andrea stabs her fork into her food, taking an aggressive bite.

"Do you want to move out for a while till he's gone?" Andrea puts her fork down again and smiles half-heartedly.

"And stay where, with Philippa?" Neil says laughing slightly at his suggestion.

"I thought you still had the flat." Andrea eats unenthusiastically again.

"I've got people in it, besides I don't want to go back to the way things were, I'd miss you." It brings a smile to Andrea's face for the first time since she'd brushed off Ken Drummond.

"What about Jake?" Andrea remembers suddenly. "You have him this weekend and dad's going to be there." She feels like throwing her hands in the air.

"We were going to decorate the room for him." For almost twelve months now Neil and Andrea had been promising Jake they'd turn the plain and dull second bedroom into his. It's another thing Andrea hadn't disclosed to her parents; living with Neil would be trauma enough for her mother. If her father ever hit the roof at the couple of blue walls Neil planned to paint, they could be easily painted over.

"He'll be disappointed, we can't disappoint him." Andrea insists. "We've used this as leverage to get him excited about coming to stay." It reminds Andrea she hadn't shut the door to that room before she left, which would have effectively hid the few possessions Jake keeps at her flat.

"Well you've got a pull out sofa your father could sleep on." Neil suggests and Andrea loses her appetite again.

"Jake can't meet him, he's just gotten over meeting me and he still doesn't like me and I have no idea how dad will react to you let alone the fact you have a son." Neil's face suggests he wants to ask why Andrea's father wouldn't react well to him.

"I'll tell Philippa to keep Jake this weekend." Neil reaches for the phone on his desk.

"No you can't, you get precious little time with him anyway. Dad will just have to go to a motel, better still home. A man his age shouldn't run from his problems anyway. I'm not going to let him turn our lives upside down. He's already rocked our nice comfortable boat." Determined she picks up her food again but doesn't feel the will to eat.

"Jake loves you just like I do." Neil begins but is cut short.

"Liar but thank you," Andrea says.

"He's had a year of just me, a year of you gradually, I don't need to make sure he's o.k. anymore, he'll survive, and he has survived this divorce. I've moved on, Philippa is moving on so if he has to meet your father he can, he'll have to cope with it."

"Or make some psychologist very rich later on." Andrea injects a little of her own humour.

"Right now you need me more than he does."

"Thank you." Andrea says softly, talked out she appreciated the silence that settles between them.

"We had a table booked at Bertorelli tonight." Andrea says remembering out of the blue.

"I'll cancel it as soon as someone's there this afternoon," Andrea was looking forward to the well reviewed expensive restaurant for months. That's how long in advance they had to book and they still had to settle for the unpopular Monday night. It had been a 'for no particular reason' surprise from Neil.

"I was really looking forward to tonight; we waited for months for a table, lets just go anyway." Andrea dreams out loud and then slumps. "I'll ring Trattoria and see if we can get a table for three instead. There'll be less probing questions from dad asked of you if he has food in front of him."

"There'll be other times." Neil smiles supportively but it's twinged with a sadness Andrea doesn't feel.

"In twelve months time or something, why did he have to come now?" Andrea bemoans.

"No time is a good time really." Neil reminds her.

"Yeah," Andrea agrees as a knock comes at the door. Andrea turns her head to see Tony standing in the doorway.

"Sorry but we've got a shout." Andrea looks at her wrist watch, refs are over, well and truly. She snaps her food container closed efficiently.

"I'm right behind you." Andrea says standing out of her chair; Tony has enough sense not to stick around.

"Oh have you got flat keys because I gave mine to dad this morning." Andrea puts their finished containers in the small bin meant for paper.

"Is the spare still in the spot?" Neil says brushing crumbs from his report.

"As far as I know."

"Aren't you going shopping this afternoon from work?" Neil asks standing.

"Yeah."

"So you'll get home after me." Neil tries to work the situation out.

"No I'll be there before you, so I'm there when you meet dad." Andrea is certain of that.

"So can't your father let you in or you use the spare?" Andrea's head spins through the timing and possibilities so quickly she can't remember why she asked in the first place.

"Forget it, he'll have spent the day on the sofa watching TV anyway, I don't know why I bothered." Andrea laughs at herself and goes to leave.

"Hey." Neil says stopping Andrea, he pushes the door to the office closed. "We'll sort this out and get to the bottom of it, don't stress yourself out." His kiss is reassuring and comforting; both hands on her cheeks as he hopes his words will ease her mind. "And this is a sample of what's to come later." This time he increases the intensity and the passion in the kiss.

"Now who's doing the winding up and walking away." Andrea says and grins cheekily before hurrying to catch up with Tony.

With the door wide open Neil goes to the middle filing cabinet, fishing for the key in his pocket. He unlocks the top drawer lifting the small jewellery box that's unseen by CID because of his back to the door. It opens stiffly to reveal the diamond engagement ring. The cabinet has been its home for a month now and tonight at Bertorelli Neil was going to ask Andrea to marry him, finally it seemed all the obstacles had been cleared from their path.

The sadness that he knows and she doesn't is that there'll be no proposal tonight. He places it back in the drawer and secures the lock. It'll keep and Andrea's not going anywhere either.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

"I'm sorry you had to come and get me from CID." Andrea apologises as Tony steers the car to their destination

"No problem, I was surprised actually that you don't make a habit of it." Andrea grips tighter as they round a corner.

"Well you know, I don't want to alienate my friends especially when we rely on each other every day, I'm not one of those women who all they can talk about is the man they're with. Everyone knows I have ambitions to join CID but I'm in uniform right now and I know that. Also Neil has an important job I can't be dropping in all the time and besides when you're with someone sometimes you need a break from one another, which becomes harder when you work in the same place. Today there was things we needed to discuss…" Andrea trails off.

"Fair enough, I think Sun Hill admires and appreciates how you both conduct yourselves when you're at work." Tony slows the car looking for the right number property.

"I owe you a pint for today Tony, both Neil and I do." Andrea says appreciatively.

"Well I'll just take you both up on that." They laugh as the car pulls up despite the situation they may well be walking into.

* * *

Andrea stops to inspect the damage to the front of her father's car in more detail when she arrives home. Although she's never worked in traffic it seems obvious her father has hit something thin and vertical…like a tree. It's some comfort to Andrea as she climbs the stairs to her flat, rescuing the spare key on the way through. 

"Dad I'm home." She says looking at her watch, two hours till Neil will be home. She drops her bag in the kitchen surveying with dismay at the mess, three coffee cups, numerous plates, crumbs and mug ring stains, the milk stands open on the counter. Andrea sniffs it and puts it quickly into the depth of the fridge in the hope it will cool fast.

In the living room she finds her father asleep on the sofa, a rhythmical snore drowning out the TV, given the fact he'd driven all night Andrea's not surprised he's asleep now, she only wishes it wasn't under her best blanket.

He dwarfs the sofa and his large stature looks uncomfortably squeezed in. Magazines are scattered over the coffee table, a slight stench rises from the shoes and socks that lie haphazardly on the floor. There are more plates on the coffee table and some of her books lie open having been started to be read only to be discarded due to lack of inclination. It's clear to Andrea he hasn't been outside the flat all day, she tells herself she should be grateful he could find something to eat among her slim pickings.

"Come on dad, wake up." Andrea shakes his shoulder knowing if he sleeps now he'll wander the flat messing it up tonight. She collects the kitchen items from the living area and tidies up, turning off the TV as her father rouses himself.

In the kitchen she fills the sink doing some unplanned washing up. "I must have dozed off." He says standing in the kitchen doorway.

"That's what happens when you drive all night." Andrea says her hands deep in soapy water with her back turned.

"Leave that I'll do it." But Andrea's not confidant his words are anything but empty.

"It's fine dad." Andrea says and grits her teeth; he doesn't need to be told twice, shuffling back to the living room.

Kitchen clean Andrea comes back to the sofa and folds the blanket that's tossed on her sofa.

"So you're single?" Her father asks casually from her bookcase. Andrea's too tired from her day at work and on top of that cleaning the flat and now shopping to have alarm bells raised by her father's question.

"Swingin'," Andrea sighs putting the folded blanket on the dining table.

"So did this guy come with the frame?" Andrea's father turns around with a photo of his daughter and Neil in his hands, the one she hid this morning.

"Dad you've been snooping." Andrea says, her hands on her hips indicate she's clearly unimpressed. She automatically wonders what else he's found.

"I was looking for a pen; I only looked in that drawer." Small comfort but at least it was probably true, many of her magazines were open at the crosswords, some completed.

"Mmm I'm sure." Andrea says, trying to not sound unhappy.

"Is there some reason why you hid him from me this morning and rushed me out the door?" Andrea's photo goes back, on display this time and Andrea realises despite her efforts this morning she was totally transparent.

"Because I didn't want him to meet you when he was half asleep and unprepared, you did show up unannounced this morning." The part her father always seems to skip over.

"Do I get to meet him?" Andrea's father asks curiously.

"You'll meet him tonight dad." Andrea looks at the clock, time is moving on, much longer and she won't get the shopping in.

"Good, I'd like to give him the once over, make sure he's good enough for my only daughter." There's something more prevalent in Andrea's mind than her father's old fashioned ideals.

"Dad, mum's told you about Neil hasn't she?"

"Sure, but a father's got to make up his own mind." Andrea's doesn't find his 'sure' convincing; she could almost swear he knew nothing of Neil let alone his existence. Andrea steps over to her father and hugs him.

"I love him dad, he's a good man and he loves me, treats me good and has forgiven me when I haven't been good to him." Andrea says over her father's shoulder.

"That's all a father worries about." He releases Andrea from his embrace. "But he could fill the fridge once in a while."

"That's my fault, I have to go do that now, do you want to come with me?"

"Why will your young man be home soon?" Andrea laughs, there it is again.

"No, not for a while," Andrea sighs but continues to smile.

"I'm no good at shopping." He excuses.

"O.k. I heard that, back soon." Andrea smiles all the way to the supermarket, for the first time she feels as though things might be alright, her parents seemed to be getting a little eccentric with age, the only thing she isn't confidant of is her flat still being clean when she comes back.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

Neil Manson flicks off the light in the office only too glad to see the back of his latest report. Completed, signed and on the Super's desk Neil has no inclination to continue working, thus deciding to head home an hour early.

He realised he'd be coming home to Andrea's father alone in the flat but their meeting doesn't phase him, at five-thirty in the morning and in his underwear it did but not now, he actually has something to ask Mr Dunbar, something that could only be asked without Andrea's presence. Something to do with the ring in the filing cabinet.

Office in darkness Neil says goodnight to the ever growing members of the opposite relief team in CID. He doesn't envy them their night shifts.

Outside the flat Neil notices the distinct lack of Andrea's car which suits him fine. He climbs the stairs to the front door, checking on the way, the spare key is gone indicating Andrea has probably been and gone again.

The flat is quiet when he unlocks the door leading him to believe Andrea may have taken her father shopping, washing up dries nearby though the kettle is warming to a boil.

Although he'd made up for breakfast at midday slight hunger stabs him, the fridge looks even more plundered than it did this morning. He shrugs off his coat and drops his wallet and keys in the usual spot for Andrea to ransack from later, not that he minds. They'd fallen into the financial habit of using Andrea's wage for the bills and necessities; Neil's wage after child support was for the other things in life. It just seemed easier as everything was in Andrea's name; he'd assumed that would change in the near future. He intended to ask Andrea if she wanted to buy her father out or move to something bigger though it was early to be talking about children, in many ways they were still coming up for air, enjoying not having to worry about lies, the divorce and Jake anymore. Neil got the impression Andrea wasn't keen to go quickly back to how complicated their lives had been not long ago.

At the dining table Andrea's father looks up from a newspaper and over his glasses at Neil. At first glance Neil can't pick any of Andrea's physical features in her father, deciding that father and daughter must resemble each other intellectually, characteristically and in personality.

"Hello." He says standing out of the chair. Neil can feel himself subtly being sized up not that he minds, he's doing the same. Andrea's father's hands betray the fact he's been in manual labour for his working life, the large stomach having experienced an ale or two, his strong and stocky arms could lift a grandchild to the cries of 'higher', his face masculine yet gentle making Neil feel instantly as though he can be trusted, after years of policing he's a good judge of character.

"I was expecting Andrea." Neil says though it's far from the truth, more just a common ground to start from. He suddenly seems eager to make an impression, though how lying is helping he's just not sure. He is running to catch up not knowing what Andrea's said if anything when she was here.

"She went out to buy food because I teased her about there being none, though I did eat a lot today." Neil smiles only after the jovial laugh reaches him.

"We have busy lives; we eat on the run a lot," Neil admits. There's no point in lying further, something tells him Andrea's father has a built-in radar for people who aren't genuine like himself.

"So I gathered, Douglas Dunbar." A fitting name Neil thinks as he meets Mr. Dunbar's handshake with equal strength, he fills it easily and makes it look like his own. "I'm sorry Andrea told my wife your name and about you, I just can't remember." Another jovial laugh and Neil starts to get the impression Douglas Dunbar is most at home in a crowd of happy people with good food and drink telling stories.

"Neil Manson, nice to meet you," With the release of his hand Neil puts his coat on the table.

"So you have a key, you spend a lot of time at my daughters flat." Neil feels the observation hides the subtle beginnings of fatherly questions. What concerns him more is that Andrea appears not to have told her parents they were living together, he tries to tell himself it's not that, it's the fact Douglas Dunbar can't remember.

"Actually I live here." Neil says without hesitance. If it's news to Douglas Dunbar he doesn't show it and seems not in the least bit upset.

"You pay rent?" Neil hadn't thought about the ultimate destination of that money.

"Andrea and I go halves; she takes care of the actual transaction." It's probably too much information but Neil needs to blow any pre-conceived ideas Douglas Dunbar might have just formed of him, given his age and previous relationships and the fact he's living in Andrea's place not the other way around.

"Right, so you were here this morning?" Neil is asked as he pulls out a chair at the dining table to sit at.

"Yes." Neil doesn't need to explain he doesn't spend his nights in the spare bedroom.

"Sorry about the way I arrived." The apology surprises Neil only having had what Andrea was saying to go on he'd formulated the opinion Douglas Dunbar was oblivious but not ignorant of the way he'd arrived that morning.

"No problem." Neil says sitting down but then he wouldn't have been expected to say anything else.

"That's why she was so keen to get me out of here; you both weren't ready for introductions." Douglas Dunbar pulls out the chair perpendicular to Neil's.

"Yes I'm sorry about that; your arrival did come as a surprise." Neil feels comfortable confessing as it's obvious.

"So Neil what's your story?" Mr. Dunbar sits, he round stomach resting out over his thighs.

"Sorry?" Neil questions unsure of where he should begin to answer such a broad question from.

"What do you do for starters?"

"I'm a Detective Inspector at Sun Hill police station." Initially he hadn't set out to spell everything out like he'd just done.

"Oh where Andrea works, I guess that answers my next question about how the two of you met." He shifts in the chair and Neil senses the questions are going to become more personal.

"It does."

"So you been married, you have kids?" Douglas Dunbar straight shoots.

"Ah-um," Neil half laughs.

"I'm sorry, I just figured at your age, though you've got nothing on me." He's quick to add. "You're obviously not gay."

"You just worked me out quickly is all." Neil says smiling after laughing at the gay comment.

"I haven't known you long but you seem like a man who likes to be in love and to come home to someone at the end of the day. I'm like that, married life has never been a ball and chain for me, and I couldn't go on without my wife." The candidness surprises Neil.

"Well you have me figured out." Neil pauses. "I don't like being single, I…" Another pause, "What you said about coming home to someone it's so much better because it's with Andrea and now I have it I'm certainly not letting it go. I didn't have that and affection for very long in my marriage but I wanted it to be there, my ex-wife…" There's a reflective pause and Neil chooses to say nothing else on the topic less he allude to his affair with Andrea. "So I'm divorced with a son Jake whom I see each weekend."

"Are you o.k. with that?" Douglas Dunbar shifts into a serious mood.

"I'd like to see him more often but this is the most stable arrangement for him."

"Lots of men I know have bitter complaints about bias towards mothers in the family court system." Andrea's father impresses Neil with his smooth transition to a serious issue.

"Philippa, my ex-wife and I have an agreement we came up with together, it's flexible but we try not to disrupt the pattern if we can help it, children need stability, especially during and after a divorce."

"Can I ask why your marriage broke down?" Neil's heart beats a little faster as they scrape closer to the affair.

"We were headed in different directions, we wanted different things and we grew apart. Philippa is very strong and she never needed me." It rolls easily off Neil's tongue. He'd spent a lot of time figuratively beating himself up over the affair but he recognises the affair came after his marriage started to disintegrate and he'd still be divorced today, affair or not. Douglas Dunbar nods.

"Andrea's met your son…" He pauses and Neil can only think of one reason why.

"Jake." Neil fills in and it strikes him as odd that Mr. Dunbar has already forgotten the name of his son.

"He comes here obviously."

"Yes, the spare room is his now." Again on the surface it doesn't seem to faze Andrea's father in the least.

"And Andrea she's o.k. with this?" It leads Neil does the path to explain the years he spent making sure Jake was alright and introducing Andrea gradually. He thinks he gains some more respect and admiration.

"And she was o.k. with that?" Douglas Dunbar doesn't hide his surprise. "My daughter can be impatient."

"Your daughter, Andrea…" Neil pauses wondering how he's going to phrase what he needs to say without it sounding like blackmail. "She didn't tell me she was a journalist from the outset."

"Oh." Instantly the severity of the situation is grasped, a lie of that magnitude with its professional and personal implications.

Neil smiles sadly. "We had a rough time after I found out." It's all the detail Neil wants to go into, the heartache, the arguments and the emotional exhaustion is detail no one needs to know.

"I always wondered how she managed to stay on at Sun Hill after her big article and then resignation from the Daily News." Neil hadn't been privy to any explanation Andrea had given her parents about her change in career course; it seemed now to have been just the basic facts. Again the lack of detail strikes Neil as odd, Andrea speaks regularly to her parents.

"It's because I'm the only one who knows." Neil says seriously.

"I see." Douglas Dunbar says but Neil feels compelled to go on.

"I don't want you to think I hold that lie over her Mr. Dunbar, I don't. I've forgiven her and we've moved on. Nor did I use it to stop Andrea protesting about the years I spent with Jake, she never once complained and I spent every moment I could and wasn't with Jake with her, I love your daughter immensely and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her. I hate it when she's on the streets in dangerous situations or she's anywhere I can't protect her but I did what I had to do for my sons best interests and at that point in my life he had to come first." A smile slowly spreads across Douglas Dunbar's face when Neil's finished, it fades again. Outside the door Neil can hear shopping bags being dropped.

"I can see that, both things…I can see you're a good guy and you love my daughter and your son."

"Thank you." Neil says grateful for the respect he's just earned and gained. When Douglas Dunbar stands out of the chair, Neil does as well, surprised to be enveloped in the large man's embrace.

They both hear the key in the front door, Andrea struggling with bags of shopping she takes straight to the kitchen. "I'm back." She calls wandering into the living room looking for her father.

"Oh God, you've met." Andrea looks almost surprised to see Neil standing hands in his pockets next to her father. Neil smiles as her father laughs. "I saw your car outside; I did mean to be home before you."

"It's alright, I was early." Neil steps over to Andrea his fingertips resting lightly on her hips. Her look to ask him if he's o.k. is met by one of affection from Neil and Andrea can't help but mirror it.

"Go on kiss him I'll turn my back." Andrea's father teases.

"Why do I suddenly feel fifteen and like I'm at home again?" Andrea laughs briefly shaking her head.

"Hi honey how was your day?" Andrea says to Neil in her best fifties housewife voice. "And how was your day dad?"

"Just fine sweetheart," He says warmly.

"Well now the pleasantries are over with I have to unpack this food or the ice cream will melt." At her left side Andrea's left hand finds Neil's, they join quickly squeezing each other tightly.

"Butterscotch?" Andrea's father seems to light up.

"Yes dad, what else is there?" Andrea teases. Her father moves quickly to the kitchen, watched by a bemused Andrea and Neil who suspects it's a convenient escape to give them a moment alone.

"You o.k.?" Andrea mouths wrapping her arms around Neil's waist and pulling him into her.

"Yeah come here." Neil says in a low volume tipping his chin. Andrea doesn't have to be asked twice to kiss him. Every anxiety she had about Neil meeting her father now seems in the very distant past, it's one less thing she has to worry about, and details of their meet could come later.

Neither of them sees Andrea's father peek around the opening, observing the kiss of his daughter and the man she loves, the soft words spoken and the light affectionate touches of fingertips. He steps back into the kitchen waiting a beat before calling out. "I can't find it Andrea."

"When is he going to be gone?" Andrea whispers in mock frustration, hands around her neck pretending to choke herself in a 'kill me now' statement.

"Try the bags at the door dad." Andrea says, quickly grabbing Neil's hand and moving him deeper into the living room where they won't be seen.

"I love you." She says like she has so many times before, cradling his face in her hands.

"You never have to say that because I know it every day and I love you too." Happy tears prickle at Andrea's eyes as she embraces Neil.

"I want you so bad right now." Andrea says holding him tighter and Neil laughs.

"Tonight," He says like it's a promise

"Andrea there's no room in the freezer." Her father's voice calls out again.

"I'm going to change." Neil says gradually letting her out of his embrace and Andrea nods. Their hands only part when their limbs cannot stretch any further.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

The pain that radiates through Andrea's shoulder distracts her for long enough that her foot stumbles on the second last step from the door. Despite the weight that's burdened on the top half of her body, Andrea knows Neil must be taking the brunt.

"Have you got keys?" Neil asks once he's looked across to check she's alright.

Her bag and subsequently her keys, dangle from the crook of her elbow. At the top of the steps Andrea relinquishes her part of the burden to Neil only to take it up again once the flat door opens.

"On the sofa," Andrea says in the same decidedly unimpressed manner she's taken since they'd left the restaurant amid stares from other diners.

"Bedroom would be better." Neil suggests and they stop in the living room, still supporting the weight.

"The sofa," Andrea says shortly giving Neil no option as she swings around to take the last few short steps. Andrea lets the weight on her shoulders fall ungracefully into her furniture. She surveys her drunken and almost passed out father who lies of his own doing twisted and uncomfortable, numb of any feeling that may come from his half slumped sideways position.

Andrea stalks into the spare bedroom leaving Neil with no uncertainty that she's not impressed with her father and by extension the evening.

"What's the matter?" Neil asks standing in the doorway watching Andrea unmake the bed.

"Jake's sheets are on the bed, dad can't sleep on racing cars." Andrea says angrily.

"At this point I don't think he'd notice." Neil says quietly and Andrea either ignores him or doesn't hear him. She pulls at the sheets, screwing them into a large ball and dropping them at her feet. When she's done she stalks past Neil, her likely destination the cupboard with the linen in it. Not long after she comes back with a pair of generic blue sheets.

"You're angry." Neil looks to his feet and back to Andrea who barely notices him, with each passing second her anger is becoming more ingrained.

"Yes I'm angry." Andrea stops making the bed and looks up at Neil. "I'm not running a motel."

"So he had too much to drink, we all did that's what cabs are for." Neil stays calm, the only things he'd achieved in the past when he didn't stay calm was Andrea getting angrier and sometimes then it became about him, not whatever it had started with.

"Three bottles of wine Neil," She raises her voice, her tone implying he's ignorant for not noticing or she shouldn't have to remind him. "I didn't notice the first two they were downed as fast as two glasses. In the end I took the third bottle from him, it was three quarters empty."

"There have been occasions when you and I have had to help each other home." Neil reminds her remaining calm although some of Andrea's anger is being thrown his way.

"It's not just that, I come home this afternoon, there's a mess everywhere, plates and cups, books and magazines, he'd been through the drawers." Andrea's voice gets louder as she lists.

"You're going to wake him." Neil looks back into the living room.

"The dead don't sleep as deep as he does." Andrea shakes her head tucking in the top sheet and blanket.

"I'll help you move him in here and then I'm going to go shower." It might seem callous of Neil and as though he doesn't care but he's known Andrea for a long time now as she does him. She always needs to vent whatever anger or frustrations she has, she needs him to listen and be understanding and then she needs him to walk away. She needs him to recognise the point at which she's done and said what she needed to; all that is left is to simmer in whatever the issue is or to cool down from it. She's a reasonable and rational person who sees things as they are but needs to lash out once in a while at the world. When things have calmed down she always expresses she knows thing have to be in such a way but also why that annoys her. If Neil keeps on at her, keeps coming back and maintains her rage, it inevitably becomes about him because she's said what she needed to and wants the subject to drop but he won't let it.

"Is that decaf?" Neil asks breaking the silence; he'd stood and watched Andrea for a minute who was staring out the kitchen window into the light black of night, too many city lights drown out the stars and create a pseudo day. She'd jumped with the sound of his voice though Neil had not intentionally crept up on her. His hair stands in all directions, wet from his shower, his clothes ones he never wears out in public but they're perfect for around the flat. "You'll be awake all night."

Andrea looks at the kettle for a moment before deciding to let it boil anyway, it has an automatic cut out function and she has some hot chocolate somewhere. "I'm going to be anyway." Andrea replies picking a new light to focus on out the window. "Why does it get to me, I've pulled scores of drunks off the street."

Neil steps into the room as far as the table before replying. "Because he's your father and you care and you're thinking the worst about why he's here, your mother's no help nor am I and the stress is getting to you."

Andrea makes no visible reaction and Neil instantly recognises the unusual situation, she would normally have come around by now. The longer it takes the deeper she is invested in the situation.

"Are you o.k.?" Neil asks closing the gap between them and sliding a hand up her back to rest on her shoulder, Andrea looks to the hand responsible for the touch only long enough to discover what it is. Neil waits, tossing up if he should leave her again or stay. "Come to bed you've been awake almost eighteen hours." Neil's hand drops when his words have no effect.

"The last time I saw my father drink as much as he did tonight was when his brother died and then when he was sacked from a job he'd held for twenty five years." For the first time Andrea's voice doesn't sound level, it's sprinkled with emotion.

She turns showing Neil the two tear tracks down her cheek and the others threatening to spill over, "Something is really wrong Neil and no one will tell me and I'm scared." She talks with her hands like he's never seen her do before. "What if it's cancer or heart disease? He'd obviously in denial or running away from something."

"You don't know that for a fact and going worse case scenario is no help at all." Neil tells her firmly.

"All I can think about is what it might be and my mind won't stop." She's obviously anguished by this fact.

"Why don't you take the rest of the week off, I can organise with Gina Gold and you can spend it with your father catching up and finding out exactly what's going on, it'll put your mind at ease." Neil pushes the bunch of curls on Andrea's right side behind her shoulder; he watches her mull over the idea.

"That'd only make me crazier." A tiny smile breaks through; she's still simmering but has started to cool.

"Well that small inconvenience isn't much of a price to pay to see your father for a while, whom you don't get to see very often." Neil gains a little more ground, more of a smile.

"I won't let this…" Andrea pauses. "You and I have been through enough so early on, what if whatever this is tears us apart?"

"If that's all that is holding you back don't let it, it won't, I'm here for you and with you one hundred percent but you can't avoid talking to your father because it will start eating you from the inside out." Again Neil adopts a firm tone and takes her hand holding it tightly. "It's late; I'm going to bed, come with me."

Andrea seems to be onboard with the idea and then wavers. "I'm going to make some hot chocolate and then I'll be in."

Neil kisses her forehead and then disappears into the rest of the dark flat. For the duration of the time Andrea drinks her hot chocolate she sits on the sofa in the dark bouncing from worst case scenarios to less dire possibilities and finally she talks herself around to being almost fine and to the fact she's so lucky to have Neil to understand and put up with her.

The bedroom is dark though Andrea can still make out Neil's sleeping form; she negotiates around the bed before pulling the curtains closed over the tiny gap that has opened up. A quick check of the alarm to see if Neil has set it, though they're not dependant on it these days it's just a back up, she slides under the covers but immediately sits up again, knees drawn to her chest. In moments where the outside noise dies she can hear her father snoring on the other side of the bathroom.

"What you thinking about?" Neil's voice brings the dark a little more to life, she'd assumed he was asleep but there's no indication of it in his voice.

"Sorry, I thought you were asleep." Andrea says genuinely but doesn't look over at Neil.

"I was waiting for you; I was beginning to think you weren't coming, that you were going to spend the night on the sofa." Neil says as he pulls the covers higher.

"My father's snoring the place down." Andrea says unable to come up with anything else generic to avoid the half question. The light on the bedside table goes on; Andrea hears the flick of the switch and closes her eyes to spare them the harsh adjustment.

"I'm going to tell Gina Gold in the morning you're not well enough to come in." In the bed next to her Neil sits up but all Andrea can see is the pinkish curtains of the inside of her eyelids.

"I'm alright Neil," Andrea protests but her head now resting on her knees is not convincing.

"This is eating at you Andrea and it deserves your whole focus, Sun Hill will continue even if you aren't there." Neil's gentle despite the words Andrea might take exception to. He rubs her back gently but Andrea slides down into the bed on her side facing away from Neil. He turns the light off again realising she's still simmering.

At five past one Neil turns away from the clock, for a half an hour he'd watched it, opening his eyes at intervals to see if the red glowing numbers had progressed, sometimes they hadn't, sometimes they hadn't enough.

He's surprised to see Andrea facing him, eyes open.

"I've cooled down." She says as though one or both of them were waiting for it to happen. What light can squeeze through the gaps in the curtains backlights her tousled hair and smiling face.

"You always do, you need to be angry for a while and then you go back to being a reasonable, rational, level headed and down to earth person. You get on with what you have to do and you do your best in a bad situation or make the best of what you have." It's said with an admiration that indicates Neil respects the way she handles things.

"I'm sorry I snapped." Andrea shifts herself though Neil doesn't feel her getting any closer.

"Who else were you going to snap at, your dad was practically passed out," Neil makes light of the situation. "I'd be exactly the way you are if it were my parents."

Andrea buries her head deeper into the pillow, brushing aside some hair that crosses her face.

"He'll be o.k. you know, it'll be o.k." Neil assures Andrea but she remains looking unconvinced, it pushes Neil to be closer to her.

"What if I'm like this when I'm his age?" Her hand finds Neil's sternum where it rests.

"You haven't me my parents yet, I could be worse." Though they'd never discussed specifics of the future, neither was in a rush and Andrea felt secure in the fact she and Neil were long term, one day with a family.

They don't talk much about the future; they'd only had each other to themselves for 12 months. Sometimes it felt to Andrea like they were just starting out despite their long history. They'd learnt a lot about each other in the time they'd been living together. Neil believes they need more time just for them and their relationship, Andrea's inclined to agree. She feels secure that things are long term though they don't really talk about it, much less dates, times and places. They have an unspoken understanding both are headed in the same direction and together.

Around the time of the divorce Neil asked if Andrea wanted a break, words of a future together had been spoken then. Andrea had known there'd be a possibility Neil wouldn't want more children and through their passing comments, like the one about if Andrea would be like her parents when she's older she discovered he would like more. On that Andrea stopped to confirm rather than letting it go. They'd briefly discussed it in a light manner but again no dates or times. Both knew it would happen when it was right.

Their synchronicity, security and relaxed attitude to the future made it easy for both.

"What you said before, you are a help to me an enormous help and a source of comfort and support. There are just some things I don't know how I did without you; I know they're easier now." Her hand on Neil's sternum slides up towards his cheek but before then his lips have closed the distance to hers, pressing intensely against hers, his tongue knows the places of her mouth so well and is an equal opponent to duel with.

"I know that kiss." Andrea says, so close he can feel her breath which has become not so gentle, "This afternoon in your office."

"Hmm, you promised us something in that office." Neil says rolling himself on top of Andrea and resuming the kiss.

She doesn't need to be reminded what the promise was.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

_

* * *

I know, I know,I should be booked for speeding through this story and fined for excessive posting but I really want it done by the time I pick up on 'the series' again and there's that NYE story I'm dying to get to...keep up with me if you can. Ha ha ha!_

* * *

"Do they have to start so early?" Neil groans pulling the pillow his head rested on over his face; it barely keeps out the continual beeping that woke him. 

"What?" Andrea asks she's heard it too; it infiltrated her dream and made itself a part of the landscape. It hadn't woken her suddenly at least, with Neil's words she is now at least half awake.

"Why do they have to start fixing the road at such an early hour, whatever it is has been reversing forever," Neil lifts the pillow so his words can be heard, when he's done it goes straight back down.

"What are you talking about that's the alarm," Andrea pushes the pillow off Neil's face, she looks at him and he has that distinct half awake half asleep look about him, he probably won't remember what he's just said now he's fully awake. Slowly he leans on and over Andrea to silence the alarm.

"Did you turn it off or hit snooze?" Andrea asks as Neil settles back next to her this time, her eyes once again closed.

"We'll find out soon enough." Neil says pulling his pillow in to put his head on this time.

"What time did we go to sleep last night?" Andrea mumbles wishing the curtains were heavier therefore making the room darker.

"It was this morning." Neil yawns only to have the continual beeping start up again. He climbs over Andrea again who doesn't react, her eyes still closed wishing she could go back to sleep. Neil's hand bangs on the buttons hoping for the best, he doesn't get results.

"It's not mine." Andrea says from underneath him. "It's yours; I set them both because I knew we wouldn't want to get up this morning."

Neil groans and slumps where he was supporting himself, Andrea half pushes and half rolls him off her and back onto his side of the bed. "It's a quarter to seven you've got to get up." Andrea says as she sits on the edge of the bed.

"I remember why we stopped having late nights and started having early mornings." Neil pulls his pillow over his head again and reaches successfully to stop the alarm.

"I never forgot." Andrea says getting up onto her feet and opening the curtains; the sudden influx of sunlight makes her squint but has no effect on Neil. "You need to get up Neil." Andrea says as she shuffles to the bathroom.

"Seven I will." His muffled promise comes.

"What reason are you going to give the Super and DCI for being late?" Andrea stands at the bathroom doorway for a minute knowing she's got him. "You don't have a crazy father stressing you out."

As she goes to check on her father in the spare room she thinks she hears him say something about his senior officers knowing or understanding – they've both got children, she definitely hears the bed creak as he gets up, he knows she's right.

Andrea opens the door an inch realising her instinct may not be such a great one, she doesn't know what state her father sleeps in, the view she gets may be one that scars her. A loud snore that escapes through the crack in the door assures Andrea he's asleep, she shuts the door quickly, locking it again.

Neil rubs his face and near stumbles into the bathroom as Andrea turns on the water in the showers, regulating it to a comfortable temperature.

"Your father's still asleep?" Neil asks squeezing too much toothpaste onto his brush from a tube he cannot be bothered to flip the cap back on.

"He'll probably sleep to midday." Andrea stretches away the last of the sleep that inhibits her. She's either jealous that he can or annoyed that he will, as she pulls her pyjamas off and steps into the shower she's not sure which it is.

The water pressure is perfect, each drop rebounding off her shoulders and trailing down other parts of her body. She stands under the stream with her eyes closed waiting for it to penetrate her scalp through her thick hair. She relishes the fact some water has slid its way down her ears and now partially blocks them. Sounds outside the shower are kept out and the steady stream of water on her head sounds like rain falling on the pavement.

Her world doesn't extend further than the drops of water that hit her skin and she relaxes with the fact that's all she feels and thinks about.

"Oh Neil," She hadn't heard him step into the shower, any surprise lost with his lascivious biting of her neck. It always starts something because it makes her crazy and she's too weak to stop or protest. "We don't have time." Still she holds his head that's beside her neck so he won't pull away.

"I'm just saving water." Neil excuses extracting his lips long enough to have himself now facing her. "Besides this is time saving, two things at once."

Gently he presses the lower halves of their bodies together and it's enough for Andrea, she's too weak to resist and she doesn't want to either as she presses the rest of her body against his.

* * *

"Oi you're late." Gina Gold bellows as Andrea hurries to the main doors of the station, two steps behind Neil knows she's not talking to him but it still applies, he'll face a similar welcome upstairs. Neil slips past Andrea into the station and up the stairs without so much as acknowledgement, they'd done the personal stuff in the car, it was DI Manson and PC Dunbar now. 

"Five minutes late." Andrea checks her watch. "Once in three years."

"Oh I don't care about that." Gina brushes away the tardiness to insignificance; she points Andrea through the security door. "Frankly we're all relieved you've mellowed our DI Manson." Gina points to her left.

"Thank you." Andrea's not sure what else to say. "Ma'am."

"A little bird told me your father's in town as of yesterday and you're a bit stressed out about it." Gina directs Andrea to her office, she knows 'mother Gold' is about to make an appearance.

"Tony." Andrea sighs.

"Nope," Gina Gold says definitively.

"Honey?"

"Look it doesn't matter who it was, they weren't gossiping they were worried about you. Now have you considered taking some time off and spending it with your father, sorting out what I'm told is a mess."

"Not you too ma'am," Andrea groans.

"Ah so DI Manson and I are on the same page on this one." Gina has a penny drop moment.

"I'm fine really ma'am and it's not going to affect my work." Andrea says confidently.

"Alright off you go, but if you change your mind you know where to find me." Gina says like Andrea's a child of hers.

"I will ma'am." Andrea smiles and turns to leave but a thought comes to her. "Did he put you up to this, the DI?"

"Certainly bloody not," Gina says as she sits in her chair. "No one puts me up to anything and I don't play mediator, meddler or go-between for anyone's relationship."

"Sorry ma'am." Andrea says before quickly putting herself on the other side of the door.

* * *

"Did you get that thing with your dad sorted?" Honey asks as they make their way on foot down High Street. 

"Not yet and last night he got so drunk at dinner he had to be helped up the stairs and into bed." Andrea recounts.

"He doesn't like the DI then?" Honey starts to giggle but cuts it short when Andrea looks across at her.

"No that's not it, it's worse than that." Andrea sighs and stops walking. "He hasn't told me why he's here, I'm going out of my mind trying to think what it is and I'm so scared its cancer or something Honey." Her friend doesn't have time to comfort her as Andrea's phone rings.

"Hello?" She answers and waits. "It's reverse charges." That fact is clearly odd to Andrea.

"Dad what's wrong?" The combination of unknowns and a reverse charges call has her instantly concerned.

"You're locked out?" A part of Andrea fails to see how that could have happened.

"No, I have the spare." It hangs currently in her locker.

"No dad, where are you now?" Honey surveys the street making sure they're not missing anything.

"Dad, go back to the flat and wait outside, I'll be there soon to let you in." Andrea says calmly.

"O.k. dad I'm hanging up now, I'll be there shortly." Andrea waits till the phone goes down on the other end.

"It could take a while to get a lift; you might be better heading back on foot." Honey suggests helpfully.

"I can't leave today, now. I was late this morning." Andrea says selecting a speed dial option on her mobile.

"Five minutes so what, someone can cover for you, you won't be gone that long." But Andrea's not listening, already with her back to Honey.

"Yeah it's me." She says when the phone picks up.

"What is it?" The sharp short tempered response greets her as though she's an inconvenience in his day.

"Dad just called me; he's locked himself out of the flat." Andrea says telling herself the tone is not about her. "He needs someone to let him in."

"I thought you gave him a key." Paper shuffles and his tone becomes more degrading.

"He didn't take it with him apparently." Andrea says her sigh indicating she's unimpressed as well.

"What about the spare?" Neil snaps nearly cutting her off.

"I have it." Andrea tells him becoming a little heated herself.

There's a long silence from Neil, telling her she is an inconvenience in his day, today at least. "So you want me to drop everything and go and let him in."

Now it's about Andrea, she can imagine his lips slightly pursed.

"I wouldn't ask you unless I couldn't do it. I'm on High Street on foot." Andrea hates this mood of Neil's, it's impossible to get anything from him but a fight, like a bear with a sore head he needs to be left alone, they're similar in the way they deal with things but it doesn't always mean the other is sympathetic, like now. Andrea's own voice becomes sharp.

"And I've got mountains of work here." Neil responds instantly.

"Well if you're too busy he'll just have to sit on the doorstep and wait." Andrea calms down only to sound as though she's guilting Neil.

And he knows it as he sighs in defeat, "Yeah o.k."

"Look if it's too much trouble." Still a little irritated Andrea hammers in another nail though she knows full well she shouldn't have, it wasn't necessary and it'll only make things worse.

"I said I'll do it." It's no longer about the father on the doorstep; it's about Andrea and the things in her life interrupting his day that much is clear from his voice.

"Thank you." Andrea says tersely but the phone on the other end has already been put down.

"Trouble in paradise?" Honey asks as she steps back over to Andrea.

"We've been anything but paradise over the years." Andrea says and walks on, conversation closed.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

"Dad?" Andrea calls as soon as she's through the front door to her flat. "Dad?" She calls again having got no response the first time. "Dad I was calling you." Andrea says when she finds him in the kitchen staring out the window.

"Oh hello sweetheart, I didn't hear you come in." He says cheerfully as he turns and kisses Andrea on the cheek. As he does Andrea surveys the kitchen, it's in the same state as it was when she came home yesterday.

"Dad what happened today?" Andrea asks as she puts the milk and margarine back in the fridge.

"What do you mean?" Her father asks and alarm bells go off in Andrea's head.

"You called me and you said you were locked out." Andrea's tone pleads him to remember.

"And you sent Neil around to let me back in." Douglas Dunbar says as though he's hurt Andrea didn't come personally. She's just frustrated that's the one thing he recalls.

"Dad when you called I was on High Street, on the beat, I couldn't come, it had to be Neil or you would have had to wait until now." Andrea explains as patiently as she can.

"Well don't you hide a spare somewhere?" More alarms bells as Andrea remembers being told not to do that just yesterday.

"Did you forget to take the keys I gave you with you today?" Andrea says remaining light and conversational.

"What keys?" The fridge opens and he peers in looking for something.

"The keys I gave you yesterday," Andrea's concern for her father increasing.

"You didn't give me keys." The fridge closes an apple in Douglas Dunbar's hand.

"Dad I did, yesterday when we came back from breakfast." Andrea insists only to be met with a blank look.

"Dad where are those keys?"

"I never got any keys to your flat." He maintains and Andrea starts to worry for another reason.

"Dad you have to try and remember or I'll have to get the locks changed." Andrea makes no apologies for sounding angry.

"Why did you call me reverse charges?" She wonders out loud once she's finished tidying the kitchen, something had spilled over in the oven and was now burnt to the bottom, it would have to wait, it's too bigger job.

"I had no money." He shrugs.

"You spent it all, you couldn't get more?" Andrea stares across at her father.

"I didn't have my wallet." Douglas Dunbar sinks his teeth into another bite of his apple.

"You had no wallet or keys, what if someone asked you for identification?" Andrea tries not to sound astounded; she gets a shrug in reply. "So why did you leave the flat then?"

"I don't know, I suppose I just wanted to go for a walk, it got boring today and yesterday. You could spend some time with me." Andrea realises she'll have to go over old ground again.

"I can't take time off work, I don't have any time owing and there's the rent, remember." She's no longer gentle.

"What about Neil?" Andrea can feel conflict coming, no husband or partner of hers will ever support her fully, her father on the other hand sees it as the man's responsibility.

"What about Neil, he has child support to pay; he shouldn't have to support me as well." Andrea lets loose. "He does contribute half the rent you know."

"All I'm saying is you could spend some time with your father, I might not be around much longer." All anger forgotten Andrea's blood runs cold.

"What's the mean dad?" Andrea tries to swallow away the lump in her throat.

"Nothing, just that you should spend time with me," With a casual air Andrea's father leaves the kitchen leaving his daughter who can hear the adrenaline pumping with fear in her ears, the comment adds weight to her serious illness thoughts.

A frustrating hour turning her flat upside down for her keys eases those thoughts and the ones she has about her father's seemingly ailing memory. The last thing she feels like doing on top of everything else is cooking.

It's eight o'clock when Neil walks through the door, Andrea takes of eyes off the clock and back onto the carrot she was cutting. On top of Neil's late arrival her father sits in front of the TV and has done the whole time she's cooked, both things irritate her.

She doesn't bother to turn or greet Neil, she's in the middle of simmering over a few things and the last thing she wants to add to it is Neil's bad mood.

He brushes against her side whether deliberate or accidental Andrea doesn't care as she watches him place take-out on the counter next to her. She sighs heavily and throws the vegetable peeler into the sink; it rattles and bounces as Andrea looks out the window thinking 'typical'. She didn't want to cook anyway and on top of the reception she got from today's phone call she's annoyed Neil didn't call to say he was picking something up.

"What?" Neil asks in response to the sigh and Andrea takes a moment before turning to face him.

"You could have called to say you were picking something up, I've express defrosted meat and I'm peeling vegetables." The moment did nothing to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"So put it in the fridge and we'll reheat it tomorrow night." Andrea glares at him, that's not the point.

"Fine," She says sharply and picks up the peeler again.

"Oh what?" Neil asks and Andrea hears the cupboard opening, he's going for the whiskey.

"Nothing," Andrea shrugs off realising it's not worth the fight and if he's going for the whiskey it's been a day and a half. "Can you look out for my keys, they're somewhere in the flat."

She gets a grunt in reply and decides it is worth the fight.

"Is Jack Meadows on your back again?" Andrea asks casually.

"No."

"The Super?"

"No."

"Someone in CID playing outside the square?"

"No."

"So there's nothing wrong at work?" Andrea's tone belies the fact she doesn't believe it.

"Other than the fact there's a mountain of it." Neil takes a large mouthful of his whiskey.

"O.k.," Andrea says as though he's hassling her and she wants him off her back. She turns back around to the sink.

"Oh what's that mean?" He accuses.

"Nothing, it means nothing at all." Andrea says no longer up for the fight when information extraction is going to be as hard as it is.

"It never means nothing with you Andrea," Another accusation.

"Here you go again." Andrea's eyes roll and she puts the vegetable peeler down again.

"What?" Andrea turns around again.

"I call you today, I need you to help me out and you're short tempered and sharp like you are now and you hang up on me." Andrea knows there'll be no backing out now.

"Oh and butter would melt in your mouth right now would it? I can't spend all of my day running around after your father." The volume of Neil's voice grows.

"A half hour at the most, that's all I asked." Andrea raises her own voice.

"And every minute since he's arrived you've been moody and upset."

"That's an exaggeration and you know it." Andrea lets the accusation pass her. "Is this about the fact we didn't have sex?"

"No, that's all you think I care about." Another untruth Andrea doesn't let upset her.

"I thought I could lean on you, rely on you, I thought that's some of what a relationship is about." Andrea's voice rises again.

"I wish you'd just get on with whatever…" Neil's voice lowers so Douglas Dunbar cannot hear him. "It is you need to find out and them I can stop walking on eggshells around you."

"You have never had to walk on eggshells with me." Andrea spits out. "Unlike the months, in which you were getting divorced, sometimes I couldn't look sideways at you and all the years I put up with you wrapping Jake in cotton wool."

"After what you did you're lucky I still wanted you in my life." It cuts deep into Andrea and in some ways they haven't totally gotten past her lies about being a journalist and in moments like this Andrea suspects he's never fully forgiven her. Also in moments like this it seems to come up and is used against her. She turns away from Neil as a tear springs into each eye.

"I'm scared, I'm afraid to ask in case it's bad." She says in a low but definite tone.

"And since when don't you tackle fear head on?" Neil pushes, he has the upper hand.

"When it's my father," Andrea answers aggressively but quietly, turning back to him. "You said you were here for me." That she's upset shows in her voice.

"And you said you wouldn't let this affect us." Neil reminds her, his voice is sudden and nasty.

"I didn't think it was until now," Andrea snaps back raising her voice again. "If you're so desperately unhappy with me and this situation go back to Philippa." Andrea knows her father can hear each word, she doesn't care. She also knows she should never have brought Philippa into this but it's her equivalent of his reminding her of her lies.

"I don't want to, I want to be with you, I don't want to hear or mention her name." Neil also yells and it has exactly the opposite result of Andrea stepping to him in affection, she stays away.

"I have to do this when I feel comfortable. In the mean time I need you to deal with whatever time frame that might be. I need to be prepared, myself for the worst." Andrea continues to yell.

"And when will that be six seconds, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades." Andrea's earlier words are thrown back at her oozing bitter sarcasm.

"You bastard," Andrea says softly showing just how hurt she is looking right at Neil; as she hurries out of the kitchen fresh tears blur her vision.

"Andrea?" Her father turns himself to look over the sofa as his only daughter near runs past him to the bedroom.

"It's nothing dad, none of your business, just leave it alone." Andrea warns. She locks her bedroom door and lies on the bed crying into the pillow, nastiness aside she's unable to believe Neil won't afford her the minor luxury of some time.

* * *

After an hour the bathroom door opens, facing the window Andrea can't see who it is, she listens instead for footsteps, she knows Neil's, there's no sound. Someone is checking up on her or assumes she's sleeping. 

"Go away." Andrea says still upset when the footsteps enter the room.

"Can't do that sorry," Neil says though Andrea worked that out already, as he rounds she turns over; she doesn't want to look at him despite his gentle voice.

"What's that?" Andrea asks as he puts something on the bedside table and sits on the bed next to her.

"I thought you might have a headache, you've been crying for so long." Because of you Andrea thinks to herself, a peace offering she notes, a 'look at how sensitive and caring I can be' offer. She's still upset.

"How did you get in here?" She knows why he's here.

"You can't lock someone out of the bedroom by the bathroom." She knew that already and now she's done all the talking she plans to do.

"I shouldn't have said what I did, I didn't mean it, I had a bad day and I took it out on you." Neil says after a silence he figured Andrea wasn't going to or didn't think she should have to fill. He's met with more silence. "You father's glared at me for the last hour, he hasn't said a word to me, he blames me for upsetting his only daughter." The continued silence from Andrea makes Neil concerned. "Andrea talk to me please."

"I don't know why I thought I could make this work." It's not what Neil was expecting in the least.

"What?" He says in part asking what 'this' is and the other in a little shock; he suspects what 'this' could be.

"Us, this, what we have, it should never have gone any further than the affair." Andrea says like it's a foregone conclusion.

"Excuse me?" Neil looks over at Andrea now entirely stunned.

"The divorce, Jake and me, Sun Hill," Andrea lists but she's interrupted.

"I should never have said what I did about you, I certainly didn't mean it." His apology falls on deliberately deaf ears.

"You don't trust me, you've never forgiven me."

"That's not true." Neil says quietly.

"There's always going to be something in our way and sometimes we're going to butt heads over it." Andrea turns over to look at Neil.

"So that's life, opposites attract." Neil argues but gets nothing from Andrea. "So you're putting us in the too hard basket?" He looks alarmed, they've gone quickly from a simple argument and now Andrea's leaning towards ending things. "I thought we were doing great, we'll get past this like we have the other things."

"There'll be more, our lives are too complicated, we're too different, just because people are in love doesn't mean they can be together."

"I feel sick." Neil looks away from Andrea. "How long have you felt like this? I know I said some things but I didn't realise you were that unhappy. I know you're scared about your father and you need my support and you didn't get it and I'm sorry about that and the things I said." He looks back at Andrea, her expression remains unchanged. "You're serious, are you ending this?" Its Neil's turn to sound upset. "After everything we've gotten through you're ending us that easily. I love you Andrea, you can't do this to me, you're my life, you're what gets me up in the morning, what gets me through some days, what I look forward to coming home to." Tears run down Andrea's cheeks.

"It's not all about you, I'm here too." But her voice has no confidence.

"I can't believe you're giving up on us." Neil says and Andrea's tears fall faster, dropping onto the pillow. "Is this really what you want?" It helps Neil to believe it isn't and a small part of him doesn't think Andrea wants it either.

"Shut up." Andrea whispers with fresh tears, she turns over, facing away from him.

"No, I deserve to know why, a better reason that 'we're too different'." He's determined not to let it happen if she doesn't have a better reason.

"Just shut up Neil." He notices her voice more pleads with him that shows she's angry. "Please leave I need to think."

Though it's the last thing he wants, he'd prefer to stay and try to get her to talk more he can see his presence would only have a negative effect. It's been a long time since they've had a serious fight like this but they'd never talked about going their separate ways.

Neil hasn't come to bed by the time Andrea falls asleep.

In the morning Andrea finds herself under the covers, someone has taken off her clothes and laid them over the chair in the corner, a well loved and stretched Everton shirt she calls pyjamas rests comfortably over her skin…Neil. Andrea turns over, the other side of the bed is empty, and it's hard to tell if he slept the night on the sofa or next to her, the bed looks similar to what it did last night, she's never been one to make the bed each morning. Someone's in the showers, the most obvious person it would be is Neil.

Andrea rearranges the pillow under her head checking the time. It's still early; she has enough time to stay in bed for a while. She stares at the chair as her bad mood seeps back, she's still upset with Neil and as the previous night comes back to her it feels as though it were driven by a large premenstrual mood swing that seems to be sticking with her, but it's not the right time for that to be happening.

In the bathroom the water shuts down and Andrea debates pretending to still be asleep or getting up. She doesn't feel like lying in any longer, already getting bored and unable to doze and she knows she'd also be tempted to open her eyes and watch Neil when he came into the room. Andrea pulls her jeans on under the Everton shirt and leaves the bed as it is.

There are no blankets or pillows in evidence on the sofa as Andrea looks back from the door to where her father sleeps. She inches it open making sure she's greeted by a snore before tip toeing into the room. She looks around for her father's bag, at the side of the bed it lays open, yesterday's clothes resting on top. Andrea gathers the handles and lifts the bag expecting it to be light, it goes nowhere. With two hands she lifts it this time, she strains her way to the door, the bag in front of her hitting her legs as she walks as quietly as possible. She can barely lift it onto the sofa, realising why her father left it downstairs for as long as he did, with his walk it would have taken a while to get it upstairs. It crosses her mind this bag may have been what was being collected when he got locked out yesterday, only Neil knows the answer to that. On the way to the laundry with her father's clothes that need washing she shuts the bedroom door again.

His clothes are neatly folded in the bag which she would never have guessed, because of the way her father is and the manner in which her mother described he left. The top layer has casual buttoned shirts. Andrea pulls them out and piles them neatly on the sofa next to the bag.

"Do you think you should be doing that?" Andrea looks up to see Neil standing in the doorway to their bedroom; she'd jumped when he spoke just glad it wasn't her father. He's dressed for work, charcoal suit, white shirt and maroon tie, despite that she can't feel her anger dissipate.

"Well you're the one who thinks I need to know what's going on." Andrea says sharply and goes back to unpacking another layer of button down shirts.

"I didn't mean like this." Neil explains ignoring the snap he just received from Andrea despite his normal tone.

"Apparently you don't mean a lot of things you say." Andrea reminds him bitterly, piling the last shirt of the second layer of clothes. She stills her actions as Neil walks past her to the kitchen.

Andrea puts the clothes back and the bag next to the bedroom door, if her father asks she can always use the washing excuse, she doesn't want to admit Neil's right and he's the reason she repacked the bag…but he is. Annoyed at this fact she locks herself in the bathroom while getting ready for work, the hot water is intermittent during her shower which doesn't help her mood and her towel is still damp from yesterday morning, their shower together was long, she was going to be late, it spent the day on the floor. They're a long way from that passion fuelled point now.

Neil's sitting on the edge of the bed, fresh cup of coffee in his hand when Andrea opens the bathroom door. She ignores him as she crosses to the wardrobe to find something to wear to work.

"Are we going to talk about last night?" Neil asks levelly as Andrea slides coat hangers around looking for something to wear. She stops for a moment thinking about his request.

"I think it'll take longer than the five minutes you have before you leave for work." Andrea says with bite turning to look at Neil.

"I think this is more important that work right now." Neil says putting his empty coffee cup on the floor.

"Well it sure looks like you're going to work." Andrea turns back around and pulls out a red shirt and black pants.

It's met with a heavy sigh from Neil. "Look I'm trying here; I want to talk about this. I don't like going to bed, going to work, any of that with things left unresolved between us." Frustrated Neil raises his voice.

"Yeah well I don't want to talk about it." Andrea digs through her underwear drawer.

"That much is painfully obvious and the fact you've made up your mind." Neil says before walking out, a minute later the front door to the flat slams.

Andrea curses out loud as she accidentally kicks the coffee cup on her way to the bathroom to do her hair in the mirror. She pulls the brush vigorously through her hair ignoring the pain when it gets caught in the tangles and pulls from her scalp.

The last thing Andrea does before she heads out to work is to put her father's bag back into his room. The opposite side of the bag bumps against her legs this time as she carries it back into the room, something in the outer pocket digs into her knees. What she finds instantly brings tears to her eyes.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

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_Cheers for all the reviews everyone, much appreciated._

* * *

Honey and Yvonne stop laughing about Amber from their lockers at the back of the room when they hear the door opening and the sobbing. Yvonne shoots Honey a questioning look as the two women wonder who it could be.

"Is everything alright?" Yvonne calls before she and Honey make themselves seen, bad enough someone has come in here for what they thought was going to be a private moment. The only reply is louder sobs as Honey and Yvonne follow the cries.

"Oh Andrea what's wrong?" Honey rushes to her friend's side closely followed by Yvonne, Andrea cries a little harder, unable to stop herself staring across the room or the tears that flow down her cheeks like rain on a window. She knows why she's crying and like her argument with Neil the night before, her responses she didn't seem to have control over, she can't stop her tears.

After five minutes of embracing, hand holding and soothing words, Yvonne starts to worry.

"Do something Honey." Yvonne says both concerned and panicked because Andrea can't be stopped.

"Like what?" Honey asks, clearly she too has exhausted all her options. "Come on Andrea, stop crying you're going to have a headache and a blotchy face, tell me what's wrong." Andrea doesn't react.

"That's it I'm getting Inspector Gold." Yvonne says and leaves Honey with her arm around Andrea.

"How long has she been like this?" Gina Gold looks through the partially opened door.

"More than five minutes, she won't stop or tell us what's wrong." Yvonne sighs sympathetically.

"O.k. you get Honey out of there, the shift's started, and I'll handle this." Gina says.

"You going to get the DI ma'am?" Honey asks looking back at Andrea from the doorway.

"We better go." Yvonne encourages Honey before she gets an answer.

"If this is about him and her," Gina Gold mumbles on her way up to CID and an uncomfortable situation. "Or her father," She nods to some of the relief as they pass. "I knew them together wasn't a good idea, why me I hate dealing with these sorts of things."

Neil stares at the ring in its box in his hands, if he were capable he might be thinking about whether it might have to be returned, that it might never serve its purpose, but he's too stunned to be able to think of anything, so he just stares.

With the knock at his door Neil hastily puts the ring back in place. He turns around to see Gina Gold in the doorway, she looks uncomfortable and instantly he closes the filing cabinet. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out, a few seconds are taken up closing the office door but Gina doesn't look any more comfortable.

"What is it Gina?" Neil says his interest well and truly taken.

"PC Dunbar…" Gina hesitates and tips her head to the side as she says, "Andrea." Neil is flooded with panic that grips him; he can't feel himself breathing as he waits for what she has to say.

The female Inspector sighs deeply, she really hates to be the one doing things like this. "Andrea is in the female locker room downstairs crying. She has been for almost ten minutes now, Honey and Yvonne haven't been able to stop her or find out what's wrong."

Neil immediately looks concerned, though it's better than the fear that slides away now he knows Andrea's not in life-threatening danger. "She's not changed, the shift has started…far be it from me to interfere with someone's relationship but this is the sort of scenario Adam and Jack and I were worried about. So I guess I'm asking…"

"It could be about me, it could be about her father." Neil interrupts and steps towards the door.

"If it is you it shouldn't be aired at work and if it is her father she needs to take him off." Gina reminds him vigorously.

"I tried to convince her to do that but if I can't get her to…" Neil says heading out of the office with Gina hot on his heels

"No one can." Gina finishes as Neil steps outside of CID.

"Thanks for this Gina, can you keep it quiet?" Neil requests.

"I can but Honey, Yvonne and anyone else who walks into that room…" Gina spells out the reality as she follows Neil down the stairs.

"DI Manson." Gina says as they spy Honey and Yvonne who've reappeared outside the locker room, Neil turns. "You need to fix this or you'll lose the support of the people who wanted to sign a transfer order for you or PC Dunbar."

"I know." Neil says like he doesn't need to be told.

"We were stopping people from going in and finding out Guv, Ma'am." Honey informs them as the senior officers approach the door. Neil nods gratefully as he pushes through the door.

In the middle of the floor space Andrea has her back to the door, she's no longer audible in her crying, she turns when she hears the door and footsteps, and Neil can see tears are still running down her cheeks steadily.

"No." She says backing up.

Neil steps closer to her waving his hand behind him where hopefully Andrea can't see and the connected gatherers will close the door. When it does close he steps closer again.

"No I don't want you here." Andrea sobs, she's backed into the lockers now, and Neil continues to approach Andrea.

"No I don't want you here." She says through tears again, Neil only one step away.

"I don't want you…" Neil tries to put his arms around her, Andrea fights the advance but Neil is determined to comfort the woman he loves who's clearly in distress.

"I don't want…" Andrea says as Neil gains the upper hand against her efforts to reject him. Like she has no control over her father she now feels powerless to do anything but break down in his arms, all the worry and anxiety have become too much for her to bear.

"I don't want my father to die." She sobs finally giving in and clinging to Neil, her hands scrunch the back of his shirt in her fists, tears stain his collar and it feels as though he's literally holding her up, without him she'd be on the floor.

Neil holds her tighter to him than he thinks he ever has, he rubs a hand across her back in an attempt to calm her down, the other rests gently on her hair that covers the back of her neck. He whispers comforting words and when Andrea rocks gently on her feet he goes with her.

"Shh." He soothes as Andrea slowly starts to calm, he's willing to stand with her for as long as it takes. "Shh."

The door opens a fraction and Honey's face appears, behind Andrea's back Neil waves her away. It's taken a while, she was worked up but Andrea's breathing has almost returned to normal though she still clings to him like he's her only means of life.

When she's been quiet for a couple of minutes Neil lets her out of his embrace and encourages her to do the same. "Sit here." He says guiding Andrea to the bench, she lifts her knees to her chest and buries her face in them. When Neil's sure she's not going anywhere he steps outside the door.

"Is she alright Sir?" Honey immediately steps up to Neil, she'd been waiting worried across the corridor.

"Ah." Neil says unsure of the answer himself, he realises he'd misjudged the bond between Andrea and her father. Sure it was obvious from the outset she was anxious about what he was doing visiting but he never imagined it would come to this point. For a moment he thinks about how it reminds him of someone else he'd shared a life with and that similarity is not comforting to him. "The short version is she suspects her father's visit is because he has an illness, a serious one."

Honey can't seem to find anything to say.

"What are you supposed to be doing now?" Neil needs to think, Andrea can't go home to her father.

"I was paired with Andrea; Inspector Gold has me doing paperwork." Honey informs him. "Till…" She doesn't want to say anymore.

"I need you to find me an empty room along here." Neil points to the corridor to his left. "Can you put some water in it, find some aspirin or something, she's going to have a headache soon and something cool to put on her face, it's all blotchy. Then I need you to make sure no one comes along when we go into the room." Honey nods. "I'll wait here until you're done."

Neil checks on Andrea through the doorway, she hasn't moved as Honey checks for a suitable vacant room.

While Neil waits he continues to wonder how he missed the strong connection between Andrea and her father, he'd seen the pictures of them together in the photo albums she has and he knows they speak at least weekly on the phone but he'd also misjudged the depth of feeling and the relationship. He checks on Andrea again as Honey comes back with water, aspirin and a cloth. He wonders about last night, if she was just pushing him away because she couldn't talk about whatever was on her mind, that she needed to think like she said but it wasn't thinking about their relationship, was her anger towards him just a transfer from something else onto him.

He reminds himself again he's misjudged the depth of concern for her father and he had given her a shortfall of support, on top of a bad day that was his fault. But he's here now and he still doesn't believe she wants to end things.

"Ready Sir," Honey says, breaking his thoughts, from outside the private room that's been set up for them. Neil nods and goes back into the locker room.

"Come on we can't stay here." Neil says in the same gentle tone he's used since he first comforted her. He touches Andrea's hand with his and she takes it into hers, slowly unfolding herself off the bench.

"I can't go out there." She says when they're at the door, Andrea's hand holding Neil's so tightly he expects it might become painful soon.

"It's just Honey out there and she's made sure the corridor is clear, she's set up a room for us where we won't be disturbed, we can't stay here." Neil explains gently. While he gets no visible reaction, Neil knows she trusts him. He looks out the door first, up the perpendicular corridor that's clear and then to Honey who stands at the end of the other, she nods and Neil encourages Andrea to go first out of the locker room and along the short corridor where Honey smiles sympathetically, her directs them into an old interview room that's not longer used.

There's no furniture but Neil knows Andrea, she would have chosen to sit on the floor anyway, back against the wall, legs outstretched. Neil puts the water next to her, dropping the dissolvable aspirin in a glass of water he pours. He puts the damp cloth in her hands as she stares, he sits on the other side of her shoulder to shoulder.

Then he waits, knowing better to press for her to talk, the words will flood out of her when she's ready. The only sound is the fizzing of the aspirin.

"When I got home yesterday dad couldn't remember I'd given him a set of keys to the flat." Neil says nothing, looking at where Andrea winds the damp cloth in her hands. It's no surprise to him things started when they did, he can imagine her getting angry with her father as soon as she walked through the door, especially after her phone conversation with him.

"I asked him why he went out, he didn't have his wallet with him either and I asked him where he was going, he said he was walking because he was bored. He said I should spend more time with him because he might not be around for much longer." Silent tears roll down her cheeks, she brushes them away with the damp cloth. Neil knows the fear gripping reaction she would have had, the crippling worry that consumes you, Neil had experienced it at times with Jake and a little earlier with Andrea.

"This morning after you'd gone I took dad's bag back into the room, I found medications…" She starts to cry again. "Medications, all these long words I didn't know what meant." Andrea says through tears. "They were prescribed to him, four of them."

"I know you're scared but I want…" Neil stops and changes his words. "You should try and focus on the fact the medication is probably innocent, for cholesterol, an antibiotic, arthritis, and a stop snoring tablet."

Neil looks across to Andrea who's looking at him, tears stopped. She appreciates the joke but it hasn't brought a smile to her face.

"We'll find out from your father what's going on tomorrow, together." In his lap Andrea's hand takes his again.

"You should put that cloth against your face." Neil leans over her and picks up the dissolved aspirin, Andrea drinks it slowly, the taste tightening the muscles on her face.

"I'm a sight am I?" She watches their joined hands.

"You're always beautiful." His words spring new tears to her eyes as she looks back at him. Neil offers his free arm to encourage Andrea into him; she readily accepts lying awkwardly but contentedly against his chest.

Neil sighs with relief, Andrea seems to have released what she needed to and he dares hope they're back to normal.

When his phone rings interrupting their peace Andrea pulls it out of the breast pocket of his jacket and puts it in his hand. He takes the call listening to Phil Hunter on the other end.

"No it's not urgent it'll have to wait, there's something much more important right now." He doesn't say goodbye and drops the phone into the floor next to them.

"You can go back to work." Andrea's voice wobbles; Neil's kiss on the top of her forehead is answer enough.

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

"Dad I'm home." Andrea yells her hands full of food to replace that her father has eaten, she'd gone back to work eventually, after an hour she'd joined Honey and had started work, and Neil had been profuse in his apology and thanks to Gina who was still not impressed. The situation for Neil was uncomfortable but not one he was going to shy away from, Andrea's too important to him.

"Dad?" Andrea calls again putting the bags in the kitchen she can't hear any snoring and the sickly worried feeling from before seeps back.

"Dad?" Andrea calls going room to room, the spare bedroom is the last she checks and he's not there. She pictures him lying somewhere struck down by an illness she's not privy to.

Andrea lifts his bag to the bed and this time she's not so gentle with the way she unpacks, folded clothes are dumped all over the bed and there are more layers than she expected, the more clothes she comes across the more upset she gets, she desperately needs a clue and she finally gets something on the bottom.

She pulls out the well worn copy of The Lord of The Rings, her father's favourite book, there are CD's from artists she's not familiar with but she remembers the songs, he played them over and over, the cool metal of the Coach of the Year award rests in her hands for only a few second as she spots the photo album. The leather cover is cracked and well worn and Andrea recognises the photos as she flicks through the pages, her mother, Andrea and her brothers that last time they were all together, her father as Santa with Andrea and her brothers as younger children, photos from her parents wedding day, various aunts, uncles and cousins, her father's parents who've been dead for years, each rugby team her father ever coached.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were going to jail or were not going back to mum." Andrea says out loud and she trembles as she repacks the bag the best way she can. She pushes the photo album back deep down the side of the bag but not before something slips out of the back cover. Andrea opens the official forms that have yet to be filled out; it's an application for a UK passport.

A passport is as useful to her father as truth to politicians.

"What's going on dad?" Andrea says out loud unable to immediately make any links. She can't sit still once she's back in the living room she's tense and her mind rattles with possibilities – experimental treatment in another country.

By the time she hears a key in the front door she's worked herself to more silent tears.

"Oh." Andrea's shoulders drop and she goes back to worrying after rushing to the door only to find it is Neil. She should have realised her father is unlikely to have keys.

"Well that's a welcome greeting." Neil says as he locks the door behind him. "Where's your father?" He asks as he approaches Andrea. "Oh hey, what's the matter?" He continues concerned, the tears on Andrea's cheeks become obvious, he kisses her forehead and pulls her into him but Andrea doesn't put her arms around him.

"I don't know. I don't know where he is. I came home; he's not here, no note or anything." Andrea realises how angry she is with her father as well.

"O.k. he must have gone for a walk." Neil says reassuringly and heads to the bedroom.

"He forgets things, like keys, what if he can't remember how to get back to the flat, or our phone number, our address, or his name, my name, what a police officer looks like." Andrea lists adding emotion to her anger.

"Whoa Andrea, just slow down," Neil says calmly coming out of the bedroom. "You're a runaway train."

"He has medication; one has to be taken six times a day." Andrea says realising she feels as though Neil doesn't share her concerns, he appears neither sympathetic nor supportive, and when it comes to her being worried he's just too calm.

"Do you want me to drive around and look for him?" Neil asks sincerely.

"He has a month's worth of clothes in his bag, photos and his favourite book and CD's, his coaching award, there's a passport application Neil. It's as if he's going somewhere for a long time or he's not coming back." Andrea starts to feel resentful Neil is not more visibly concerned.

"O.k. it does sound strange but there's probably a perfectly reasonable explanation if you'll just calm down." Neil says levelly.

"I can't calm down, I have all these little bits of information that are making me crazy and I don't know where he is, I keep seeing him lying bleeding in an alleyway somewhere. Then there's the flat, there's dirty cups and plates everywhere, empty food packages, stuff off shelves everywhere." The combination of worry, frustration with Neil's response had Andrea yelling.

"I understand but for better or worse this is your father's place, he probably feels he should be able to live like he has done…does your mother have to pick up after him, can you ask him to do it himself?" Neil asks gently. "Have you considered being a little more lenient because you don't see him as often as he might like?"

"Neil the bathroom is a mess." Andrea says in a low angry tone.

"Well we leave it in a mess some mornings when we're late or couldn't be bothered." The response serves only to increase Andrea's anger.

"You know what a wide is in cricket, apply that to the toilet." Andrea snaps and it's all Neil can do not to smile or laugh.

"Any reply I have to that you won't like." Neil says seriously.

"Well clearly you're not the one cleaning up each afternoon." Andrea comments and Neil shifts his weight.

"Is this about my hours?" He asks carefully, he was a half an hour behind her today only because he knew she would need him but that couldn't happen everyday. She'd never expressed annoyance at his hours before, quite the opposite, understanding that's what his job took.

"It's not about hours or money, or sex, religion and politics. It's about you not trusting me, believing me or supporting me." Andrea raises her voice again. It's starting to feel like how they were after Andrea told Neil the truth about her job at the Daily News – other than the fact she felt he'd never trust her again, everything was a fight, small things became an argument and neither wanted to back down.

"How can you say that, how can you believe that, what about today, I was there for you today, I said we'd find out together what's going on." The passive gentle tone makes Andrea feel like she's being coddled, like he's feeling pity for her.

"What about today, did you think just because you rode in and saved the day everything would be back to the way it was?" Andrea wasn't expecting Neil to look quite so stunned but she doesn't step down.

"Well we both can't break down at work, you know I do trust you and I believe you, I'm trying to remain calm and to not think the worst. It helps no one, especially your father if I go to pieces with you. Why do you think I suggest things like he just went for a walk, one of us has to remain rational." Neil says raising his voice a little but rational is the wrong word to use with Andrea right now.

"I am being rational, as rational as someone can be whose not got any information." Andrea yells as the front door to the flat opens.

"Hello." Douglas Dunbar says cheerfully, flat keys jingle in one hand and he holds flowers in the other. Andrea turns around and glares at him. Neil closes the bedroom door behind him. He hears every word as Andrea berates her father for scaring her, he hears Douglas Dunbar protest as Andrea takes her flat keys off her father, at least now she'll feel a little more in control of what she imagines is going on or actually is going on.

A cold silence descends between Neil and Andrea that night, they retreat to separate sections of the flat that becomes impossibly small when there's someone you're actively trying to avoid until they cool down and see reason.

The cold silence between them, the disconnection all reminds Neil of how they were during the divorce, he does accept that he was the reason for much of it but when it comes down to it, these things take two. He's grateful Andrea hung on during that time because so many others would have given up on the relationship.

As Neil works at the dining table, Andrea has retreated to the bedroom, their personal spaces reversed from that afternoon, she's reading though Neil suspects she's doing more simmering than reading. Douglas Dunbar watches TV; the nature documentary softly fills the room with sounds of the rainforest.

"My presence is causing friction between my daughter and you." Neil looks up from his work to see the face of Andrea's father that has looked uncomfortable all evening.

Neil sighs and lets the pages he was holding up fall down. "We fight sometimes, we're not perfect." The details are no one's business but their own. "We react to things similarly but after we've stewed for a while and cooled down things are fine."

"I thought maybe it was more than that." Douglas Dunbar offers hesitantly.

"Work has been stressful lately." Neil doesn't offer up for whom. "There are other things weighing in at the moment." Neil decides to leave it at that, the rest is irrelevant, he starts reading again but after a while wants to say something more. "She's worried about you." Douglas Dunbar's attention is immediately taken from the television. "She needs you to talk to her." He gives no visible reaction, attention diverted straight back to the complexities of the rainforest.

Andrea's already in bed when Neil decides to join her. She lies on her side faced away from Neil's side of the bed, her body curved away from his as well. He undresses in the dark until he catches the edge of the bed with his shin; it's met with a flinch from Neil and a sigh from Andrea.

"I'm not asleep." She says still angry, turning on her bedside light. Neil doesn't insight further annoyance by responding. When he slips into bed next to her the light goes out before he's even comfortable or settled.

"Goodnight." Neil says cutting through the darkness, he gets no reply. He hates going to bed angry but then an argument would certainly extend to the small hours of the morning and he just doesn't have the inclination or energy though he wants them back to normal and now.

"Did you set the alarm?" He asks remembering.

"No, I've been told not to come in tomorrow." Andrea sulks like a five year old banned from something.

"And I have a day's work to catch up on." Neil sighs not looking forward to the prospect, not that he resents having to spend time with Andrea today.

"Great back to square one." Andrea snaps. "Another day you'll come home in a filthy mood."

"I'm not the one you should be angry with, I had nothing to do with it, Gina Gold wouldn't have you in tomorrow in a pink fit." Neil answers sharply; he ignores the mood comment and is met by silence. "So much for not letting this affect us. I think you want it to, the way you're blaming me for everything and attacking me." It crosses his mind she could use those things to end their relationship. He lies awake wondering what it means that Andrea doesn't have anything to say about his accusations.

Neil reaches out to set the alarm, he sleeps with his back to Andrea as she does his.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

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Two for the price of one with this part, couldn't seperate it!_

* * *

Andrea doesn't get up with Neil the next morning, there's no point and she enjoys the fact she can doze as Neil showers and dresses. She doesn't go out of her way to make it obvious she's awake and Neil doesn't acknowledge her. When he's left the room Andrea rolls over and slides her hand under the bed covers to his side. Her resolve is weakening and she wishes he'd say something because she has no idea where to start or whether she's dug herself in too deep with him or not. It's the love she has for Neil that usually leads to her anger subsiding and their eventual coming together again. 

As she pulls his pillows into her chest, closing her eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep she finds herself wishing he were lying next to her. She's semi-conscious when he kisses her cheek and says goodbye. Later as she showers herself she can't quite be sure if it happened or her dreams have caught onto what her hearts wishes.

Andrea looks all morning for tell tale signs in her father, she glances casually up from what she's doing at undetermined intervals but nothing is out of the ordinary, she supposes he took the medication in the bathroom after he got up that morning. As much as she doesn't want the medication to be of any consequence, she also wants to catch him in the act of taking it so things will be out in the open. Andrea takes notice when he goes to the bathroom at about ten, she sneaks discreetly into her room and stands close to the door, he doesn't take long before flushing the toilet leaving Andrea with no conclusive proof, by the time she's out of her bedroom her father's out of the spare bedroom. He flashes a smile at his daughter and takes up position back on the sofa.

Before nine Andrea went to ask him what she wanted to know, the first of a few attempts before midday but each time she'd chickened out and offered him a cup of coffee or the like instead, other times she'd made pointless statements about what was on the screen. The truth is she doesn't want to know, she doesn't want to see the look on his face when he tells her, she doesn't want confirmation and the sickening worry that goes with it. She isn't ready for it yet, she isn't prepared.

At one stage she tries to get him to talk about Dalkeith but his answers amount to little more than nothing's changed and he shows no interest in lengthening the conversation beyond the answers he gives in order to be polite.

He seems sad when Andrea starts a trip down memory lane of family holidays taken not far away and times around town and the house as children, he's not willing to delve any further into history, as he did with Dalkeith his answers are only what's necessary to be polite.

It feels to Andrea as though there's a reason for the brevity of the answers, as though there's something about the past that's painful and there's nothing left for him in Dalkeith, as though it's a place of bad memories and for those reasons he doesn't want to talk about it.

At times Andrea feels at loose ends, a normal day off is filled with things she has to do that she can't get done at any other time, today feels unusual. She wishes something would jump out at her, or that she could relax like her father who makes doing nothing all day look easy. Between eleven fifteen and eleven thirty she considers calling Neil though she knows it would be a bad idea, washing puts an end to any prospective calls to the Sun Hill Station. Instead she does things she's been meaning to do for longer than she can remember, it keeps her mind active and stops her doing things she wants to avoid.

At midday other than the fact she feels hungry, Andrea needs a meal preparation as just another in a long list of things to keep her occupied.

"Dad, what do you want to eat?" Andrea asks.

Before he has a chance to answer the phone starts ringing and her father suddenly looks worried.

"Dad?" Andrea questions his look but the prompt is mistaken by Douglas Dunbar as a prompting because he hasn't said what he wants her to make for him to eat.

"Whatever you're making is fine." He tries to cover but Andrea's not convinced as she searches for the phone under a pile of clothes fresh from the tumble dryer waiting to be folded, she'd buried the phone in the hopes it might deter her from wanting to call Neil. By the time she finds the phone her father has already retreated to the bedroom.

"Hello?" Andrea says once the call is connected, she frowns thinking her father's behaviour is odd and the number display on her phone indicates the call is coming from the north of the country.

"Ms Andrea Dunbar?" The voice on the other end asks and although it could be someone trying to sell her something, it just doesn't feel like it.

"This is she." Andrea says and sits herself in the nearest chair.

"Ms Dunbar this is DS Kincade calling." There's a pause and Andrea wonders why a DS from another station is calling her at home, surely the call is not for Neil, she can't imagine anyone from Sun Hill giving out her home number either.

"From Dalkeith police," It explains the strange number and makes obvious this call's not about her work and the DS is not another Scottish cop in London. Andrea tightens with the fact this could be about what she wants to know or something fresh and equally unpleasant. The DS continues unabated by Andrea's silence. "Could I speak to your father, Mr Douglas Dunbar please," Andrea springs to her feet and walks quickly to the spare bedroom doorway.

"Can I ask what it's in relation to?" Andrea replies coolly.

"We have some questions in relation to a traffic incident." The female DS is forthcoming but doesn't give out much detail.

"What incident?" Andrea asks hoping for more details but realising she won't get it. The first clues as to why her father is here sound minor and have no real reference to any medication, still Andrea questions exactly why he's here. She's convinced it's no holiday, there's a reason and it's linked to the call. She wants to hear an explanation from her father now and first.

"Can I talk to your father?" DS Kincade asks politely but Andrea knows if she stalls again it won't last much longer.

"Well he's not here right now." Andrea says knowing it will be met with scepticism. "Can I get your number and I'll get him to call you?"

"Can I ask where he is?" DS Kincade asks and Andrea has to think on her feet.

"Sight seeing."

Reluctantly DS Kincade gives out her number and hangs up. For the duration of the call Douglas Dunbar had sat on the edge of the bed, head hanging, listening to the one sided conversation, he continues to do so after Andrea has hung up.

"That was the police at home." Andrea looks down at the phone in her hands.

"They wanted to speak to you." Her father's look tells Andrea he knows who it was before she answered.

"Well I have no idea what they wanted." Douglas Dunbar lies; his tone is pleasant to cover.

"Oh come on dad, they knew you were here," Andrea exclaims. She finds it hard to believe her father would consider her to be so naive. Then something else occurs to her. "This isn't the first time they called is it?"

"They rang yesterday and Tuesday and Monday, I didn't answer the phone." Andrea stares in amazement.

"I don't…"Andrea is confused and upset at the same time. "They said it was about a traffic incident." The damage to her father's car springs to mind.

"It's really nothing to be concerned about, just a little bingle I had." Andrea's father stands up and tries to pass his daughter to go to the living room but she doesn't budge out of the doorway, he backs off. If it were nothing he wouldn't be avoiding the calls. It bothers Andrea that the police found out where he is, she has an idea and dials the corresponding number.

"Mum, its Andrea." She's in no mood for pleasantries; on the other end her mother's sugar-coated tone tells her the second call in a week is lovely. Andrea's in no mood to be emotionally manipulated again.

"The police just called here for dad." Andrea says realising her mother won't know anything about what's going on, she confesses it was her who passed on Andrea's number and asks where her husband is.

"He's sight seeing." Andrea deadpans and frowns at her father who's standing and watching the call take place. "Do you know what the police want?" She should have saved herself the cost of the call, as expected her mother has no idea.

"Thanks mum, bye." Andrea says and hangs up barely listening to her mother's parting sentiment.

"I want an explanation dad." Andrea says angrily, crossing her arms in front of her, her father keeps looking at her and says nothing. "Are you sick dad?" Andrea involuntarily holds her breath.

"What, no." Douglas Dunbar says definitively, a little alarmed also.

"Because you're on a lot of medication," Andrea continues from the last question.

"It's to keep my cholesterol down, another is for the arthritis in my joints and the last one is…" Douglas Dunbar trails off.

"Is what dad, there are four." Andrea insists.

"Your mother has me on this weight loss tablet and a diet, the rest are just vitamins." Andrea instantly relaxes; wryly she wonders if her father is here escaping the diet that has been imposed on him…and the way he's gone through her food might suggest so. Though for a second she thought her father's reluctance and the V in vitamin had Andrea expecting him to say Viagra. If multi-vitamin is code for Viagra, Andrea's glad the embarrassing moment could be avoided. But they in themselves being here raises more questions, questions she doesn't want to ask or know the answer to, she trusts her father implicitly when he says vitamins and leaves it at that.

"What'd you do, go through my bag?" He accuses, angry at having to explain himself and Andrea's invasion of his privacy.

"Yes, I did dad." Andrea says like her actions should be obvious and most certainly justifiable. "Because I wasn't getting any answers from you and may I remind you, you too went through my drawers."

"I was looking for a pen." He defends himself, voice raised.

"I want an explanation dad." Andrea raises her voice again out of frustration and anger. Douglas Dunbar is not forthcoming; he can't even look at Andrea.

"If it's nothing why are you here and hiding, why didn't you answer the phone?" Andrea raises the level of her voice to a yell but it makes not difference. "Look at me dad; I want an explanation, what's going on?"

"Don't yell at me in my flat." Douglas Dunbar roars, the ferocity and fast onset of the words make Andrea jump, but she's not about to back down.

"I pay money for the right to call this my flat and you owe me an explanation after the way you showed up and everything since then but mostly because I'm your daughter and I'm worried about you and I want to help if I can." By the time she's finished Andrea's voice is anything but an angry yell.

Her father nods after a minute and opens an arm to direct his daughter to the sofa as he steps towards the door. Andrea accepts walking to the sofa under her father's wing, the prospect of finally finding out what's going on hasn't made her feel any better, despite the fact she now knows it's not medically related.

Andrea turns a dining table chair around to face her father where he sits with his head in his hands. She waits and after a minute his head goes up and he opens his mouth to speak but his chosen words don't have his head's approval. He looks down at the floor and begins again.

"On Sunday nights I play cards at Ross Napier's." Douglas Dunbar begins, its information Andrea already knows but she figures it would help neither of them for her to push things. "We have a beer or two; lose some money to one another and chat about what's going on in the town." There's a pause and Andrea figures something important is coming up.

"They got to talking about this teenager who was killed on one of the roads between Ross' place and town. I'd seen the story in the paper, didn't think much of it, it was not Sunday just gone but the one before. Ross said the police had been around to ask him if he'd seen anything, his house looks over the bend in the road where it happened, he couldn't tell them anything and then he asked me if I saw anything." There's a pause and Andrea starts to feel nervous about where this is going.

"I realised I was probably on that bend around the time the hit and run occurred and Ross would have told the police that." Douglas Dunbar stops again.

"Well did you see anything?" Andrea presses with urgency.

"The other day when I locked myself out, I knew you'd given me keys, I couldn't remember what I'd done with them, I lied to cover up the fact I couldn't remember."

"You think you hit the teenager." Andrea finishes for him. "But you can't remember the drive home." Her father nods. "You also have unexplained damage to your car." His head drops. "Do you think you'd forget something as serious as running over another human being?"

"I don't know, all I could think about was that they'd take my license." Andrea's never seen her father look so vulnerable.

"Your license is the least of your concerns; you could be looking at jail time." Andrea raises her voice wondering how her father could be so flippant.

"I was going to say that next." Douglas Dunbar says humbly but his only daughter is still annoyed.

"So I guess that explains why you said to me I should spend time with you because you might not be around for much longer, you thought you'd be headed off to jail. You realised all this Sunday night, which explains why you packed up and left without so much as telling anyone, you drive all night which I know you hate to do but you needed to get the car out of Dalkeith because of the damage on it, then you were going to sell it." As Andrea ticks off each of her father's behaviours and incidents her voice gets angrier and louder. "You avoided my questions of course because as police officer myself and Neil are obligated to do something unless we want to be drawn into things, off course you don't answer the phone because you know who it is and what they want. You've got a photo album, books and CD's with you which makes it plainly obvious this wasn't ever going to be a short stay."

"O.k.," Andrea's father interrupts her but Andrea's not done and she's still angry.

"Then there's the passport application, what were you going to do leave the country, leave your family behind, leave under your own name, you would never have made it past the duty free shopping."

"I was thinking about, having done this and not knowing, it frightened me."

"You know what dad, I'm angry and disappointed. You thought the best thing to do was run away from your problems and to hide out here, did you think Neil and I would protect you? You didn't raise me to run from my problems or fears but to face them, stand up to them, tackle them head on." Andrea says no longer angry just disappointed.

"My body, my brain is changing and I don't know why, all I know is that I'm fifty eight years old and pretty soon I might not remember you or your brothers or your mother. I might never see you marry, never hold a grandchild. If that's not a frightening prospect then I'm dead already." Douglas says levelly.

"Doesn't excuse what you did, you don't even know if you're guilty, a medical condition proved in court and your punishment would be light." Andrea tells him. "You couldn't even tell me, you kept up this wall, you put off my questions, laughed them off or made me feel bad for asking. I spent every day since Monday thinking you were dying, I felt sick and anxious all those terrible bottom of my stomach feelings. I've yelled and snapped at Neil, I spent hours running the possibilities of what was wrong with you through my head. I broke down in tears at work after I found the medication."

"I panicked Sunday night; I was only thinking of jail, I needed to get away to think and to try to remember."

"Clearly you weren't too irrational about it, you managed to bring a few home comforts, get a new photo album for some memories of the past thirty years and pick up an application for a passport." Andrea lists.

"I got those things Monday." Douglas Dunbar says and Andrea hangs her head turning over the phone that's still in her hands.

"You're going home dad, you're not hiding out or running anymore. I'll drive back with you tomorrow night." Andrea holds the phone out to her father. "Hit the down button to get the last number received, then hit talk, ask for DS Kincade and tell her you'll come to the station Saturday morning for whatever she needs. Then pack your stuff." Andrea hands her father the phone staying long enough to make sure her father makes contact with DS Kincade. When he hangs up she walks slowly to her bedroom and closes the door behind her.

With her back flat against the door Andrea Dunbar only daughter of Douglas Dunbar, the man who has loved and supported her through everything, the man who has given her everything she ever needed and most of what she ever wanted, sheds a few silent tears. To begin with for the fact she'd just yelled at him, something she feels sick to the pit of her stomach over, for whatever is happening in his mind, a mind that is abundant with general knowledge, a mind whose damage to she can't stop and for the prospect that he's responsible for the death of someone else, no matter how accidental. By the time she's combined all three, she's crying face down into her pillow.

When Andrea hears the door creep open much later she looks over at the clock, it's gone three. She rolls over onto her side, seeing her father standing in the doorway. "I would never have gone through with it, you know that don't you Andrea, I was always going back to face whatever I had to." His voice is soft but definitive.

"I know dad but I'm still angry and I'm still disappointed." Andrea won't let him off the hook; she rolls over onto her stomach again, burying her head in the pillow till she hears the door close again.

As Neil pulls his car into a vacant spot out the front of the flats he wonders what exactly he will come home to, the silence that greets him as he walks through the door and drops his things is the last thing he would have expected. Something has gone on though; a bag that came upstairs not a few days ago now waits by the door to be taken down again.

"Hello." Neil says standing in the kitchen doorway finding Douglas Dunbar making tea.

"Hello…" He says once he's turned to see Neil but from there on things become strange, it's as if he has something on the tip of his tongue he wants to say but it won't come off, Neil suspects the word that's stuck is his name. "How was work?" A clever cover.

"Fine, what's going on…are you leaving already?" Neil asks and Douglas looks back to his tea, he drops in sugar after sugar, enough to make Neil wonder how it is he's not diabetic.

"I think Andrea would prefer to tell you about that." Neil moves on, looking for Andrea.

He finds her sitting cross legged on the bed they share surrounded by paperwork. They're bills he knows she would usually do at the table, he doesn't have to be smart to work out she's avoiding her father as she avoided him last night.

"Hi." Neil says standing just inside the doorway wondering what reaction he'll get.

"Hi." Andrea says normally, looking up for a second before concentrating again on what she's doing.

"Do we have enough money?" Neil asks pulling at his tie.

"These are just old ones I haven't gotten around to filing yet," Andrea says. There's no snide comment about having time to do it because she's not at work.

Neil asks no more of her, hanging up his jacket, pants and tie and changing into something more comfortable. The silence between them is not icy like it was last night.

"So what's going on your father's bag is sitting at the front door." Neil asks casually as he pulls a shirt over his head.

"He's going home tomorrow." Andrea says pen in her mouth, she places a phone bill in a pile with others and doesn't seem to indicate anything is unusual.

"O.k.," Neil says not wanting to push though he'd like to know how and when this came about. As Andrea tosses aside the bills in her hands with a sigh he knows it won't be long before she explains everything.

From the outset her voice makes it clear she's not impressed, the lack of tears tell Neil if it is an illness then it's not a serious one. He doesn't interrupt as she explains the events of the day, he doesn't need to, she's detailed in her explanation and with each detail her anger grows until she's standing and pacing the room. When her voice raises as she begins her father's explanation for being here Neil closes the bedroom door. He wonders if part of her anger comes from the fact she was so upset over him days earlier only to discover the truth is less severe. Andrea tells him the whole story linking in all the clues and suspicions she'd had.

"Well that's great news; he's not dying or sick." Neil makes sure he sounds pleased but Andrea obviously doesn't share his enthusiasm.

"He might have killed someone Neil, there's hardly a better option of the two." She speaks to him like he's an idiot for not realising and it's then Neil figures out he has walked into the eye of the storm. The brief calm that could fool anyone into thinking the hostilities are over, the truth is there's more on the other side.

"O.k. but we don't know that." Neil remains cool.

"Oh for God's sake Neil, open your eyes, did you listen to the evidence, you're supposed to be a DI for crying out loud." Andrea says sharply and it's on again.

"What evidence, we haven't seen an accident report, forensics or anything like that. One of us has to believe in his innocence, you've obviously locked him up and thrown away the key." Neil returns equally as sharply.

Andrea sighs. "Oh here we go again, back around to where we were before. You're the reasonable and rational one and I'm the one out of control. You always set yourself up on the higher ground; you're older, wiser, more experienced in policing, ranked higher…"

"Oh it has nothing to do with that." Neil spits out. "You know that."

"Then why have we been having the same argument for the past few days?" Andrea points out.

"Well that's the difference between you and I. You seem to think this is about you and I and the sort of people we are and our relationship and you've made it about that. I think it's been about the stress of what's been going on with your father. If it was my way this would be over by now, we'd be happy he's not dying and thinking of how we can help him but right now we're not arguing about him, it's about me and what I think and how I'm reacting." When he's said what he wants to Neil stops himself suddenly realising he was yelling.

Andrea's response is to pick up his work shirt and head for the laundry, it wouldn't matter whose clothes it is, in fact it's rare she picks up after him or does much more than start the wash cycle when his clothes are in the machine, it had taken Neil some adjusting. Its Andrea's way to escape for a minute to formulate a response to his last comment that she'll launch into as soon as she gets back. It's at this point Neil knows she knows he's at least somewhat right.

"Did you yell at him, is that why you were in here when I came home?" Neil asks from where he's sat himself in the corner chair, he doesn't allow Andrea any opportunity for a comeback on the last thing he said before she left, not even waiting till she's closed the door again.

"Of course I yelled…he's a grown man who's run away from his problems." Andrea retorts.

Neil lowers his voice because he doesn't want Douglas to hear what he's about to say and the words don't need to be yelled to have an effect either. "I seem to recall running to you when I was unhappy with my problem filled marriage."

Andrea looks across at him, not conceding the fact Neil's right. "That's different."

"Not historically they're not." Neil makes reference to murder and adultery in the Bible. "There were times when I didn't know what to do, what was happening, what I was doing or what the consequences might be but I knew I could turn to you and trust you and that you'd help and comfort me and my memory was and is fine."

There's nothing left to take to the laundry.

"I think you should have gone a little easier on him." Neil says carefully.

"Well he's not your father he's mine." Andrea spits back with venom, she has ground she needs to gain back.

"Yes he is…but is this how you get results in interview with witnesses and criminals by yelling at them?" Neil points out sounding only sightly angry at the tone of the last reply he received.

"Oh don't start again." Andreas snaps. "You weren't here."

Neil purses his lips, all along he'd been expecting her last point to come up. "So you're angry at me because you had to find out what's going on, on your own."

"Well I do recall you saying something about…" Andrea starts but is cut off.

"And you said something about not letting this affect us." Neil yells suddenly. "Thank goodness for that phone call because if it weren't for it you still wouldn't know what's going on because you never would have asked yourself and yes I would have been here with you to find out but you really needed to find out by yourself and for yourself."

"Well I suppose I could have called you and you'd have dropped everything and ran over here," Her words swimming in sarcasm.

"Oh so we're back to that are we, just like I said you're making it about you and I." Neil says angry they're back tracking over already covered ground.

"I needed a favour from you." Andrea emphasises each word loudly, Neil's not going to listen to anymore of it again.

"I apologised profusely for my mood that day." He determinedly reminds her. "Are you seeing a pattern here as well, you've been angry with me for days and now you're angry with your father."

"He's hiding out, he's a fugitive him my flat…no his flat." Andrea corrects her mistake but not the volume of her voice. "I'm harbouring a criminal and I'm a police officer, we both are."

"That's an exaggeration if I've ever hear it, he's scared. He thinks he's done something serious but he's not sure, through no fault of his own. He has no idea what the consequences might be because he's been a law abiding citizen all his life, let alone how it will affect the people he loves. We work with and around the law each day, of course it seems obvious and simple to us what he should have done, of course he turned to you." Neil implores.

"Around the law?" Andrea raises an eyebrow at Neil's wording that could be taken as benign or suspicious.

"He hasn't broken any laws as far as we know, there's no warrant out for his arrest, they just want to ask him some questions which he probably can't answer anyway." Neil assumes, ignoring the last comment from Andrea. "You should be happy he felt he could come to you."

"That's about where I live not who I am." Andrea comes back quickly.

"He could have gone to your brothers." Neil points out.

"They live in Edinburgh." She reminds him sharply. "It's not far enough away."

Neil sighs frustrated that he's getting no where; rubbing his face in his hands he gets out of the chair and paces in the small space at the side of the bed. "So you're just packing him back into his car and pointing him in the right direction to drive all night when you know he hates it and might not cope. That's also making the assumption he actually goes home and doesn't stay on the road or go elsewhere."

"I'm going with him." Andrea says quietly, sitting onto the edge of the bed. Neil looks surprised but it soon turns to anger. "When were you going to tell me?"

"I don't know." Andrea snaps.

"Maybe you weren't going to bother; maybe I'd just come home one evening and find you both gone." Neil says sounding like he's talking primarily to himself, it's clear he's amazed in a bad way by Andrea's new plans.

"I'm thinking of staying a while." Andrea says and Neil sinks inside, he steps slowly to sit on the bed, a distance from Andrea, it feels abnormally difficult to move his limbs, Andrea's plans consuming his focus. His head hangs, eyes looking at the pattern on the carpet, for the first time thinking this is truly the end of them.

"Are you going to ask me to be gone by the time you get back?" Neil asks quietly, looking across to Andrea. As soon as his eyes meet hers she pulls away.

"I thought I might be able to get involved in the investigation somehow at least view the evidence." Andrea says hopefully; focus on the closed door and ignoring Neil's question.

"You won't get a foot in the door." Neil shakes his head, she's too lowly ranked but he doesn't want to mention that and have them go back to that argument again. Even he would have some difficulty.

Andrea doesn't reply, silence indicating she knows he's right.

"I want to come with you."

"Oh by all means let's take our hostilities on the road." Andrea says like it's the bad idea it is. She stands up pacing by the window with her back to him.

"Well we're certainly not solving anything sitting around here and talking about things." Neil points out but then the anger disappears from his voice. "I want to support you and I have a better chance of getting involved with the case."

"You have Jake this weekend." Andrea reminds him, turning from the window for a second.

"I'll fly up Monday." Neil compromises but gets no reply. He wonders if Andrea wants him to come but in their current context can't find the words to say so without relinquishing some ground.

"Do what you want." Andrea says coldly and walks out; she concedes only a small amount of ground. Neil immediately picks up the phone next to the bed and organises some time off for them, for him it's simple he has time owing, Andrea does not but Gina Gold is surprisingly compliant to his request, or maybe it's not so surprising.

They eat in silence that night; Andrea had retreated to the kitchen and cooked, convenient because it gave her something to do while she could be alone. When they're finished eating she takes all three plates to the kitchen without saying anything. Neil didn't expect it, neither did Douglas from the look on his face, both men were expecting to have to fend for themselves totally. Neil checks the kitchen, hot water already running in the sink.

"Do you want some help?" Neil asks though he usually wouldn't bother. With her back turned Andrea shakes her head in reply.

"I'm sorry." Douglas apologises when Neil sits back down, despite the general nature of the statement, Neil knows what he means.

"Don't worry it's just a rough patch, we'll get through it." Though he truly believes it, the longer he remains in conflict with Andrea the more doubts begin to creep into his mind.

"This is what Andrea needed to know?" Douglas says vaguely again.

Neil nods once and pauses for a minute before making Andrea's father aware of his plans. "I'm going to come up Monday, after I've had Jake for the weekend and see if I can help out." Douglas Dunbar looks surprised.

"Thank you." He says sincerely only to have a strange look cross his face. "What was Andrea saying before when you were arguing about me, something about a fugitive in her flat."

"She corrected herself to your flat." Neil tells him realising they must have been louder than they thought at the time.

"Yeah that's right." Douglas Dunbar says and that's when Neil sees it, it consumed Douglas through the meal, the sentence hadn't made sense to him, obviously having forgotten he owned the flat yet he knew the sentences should make sense to him, he just couldn't remember how or why.

That night as they get ready for bed, Neil closes the door watching as Andrea turns down her side of the bed. "Your father couldn't remember he owned this flat earlier tonight."

A look of alarm crosses Andrea's face as she looks over at Neil, it fades and she climbs into bed. He wonders if the reaction would have been stronger had he told her, her father couldn't remember Neil's name as well.

"I rang Sun Hill this evening and organised our time off." Neil says as he gets comfortable, his is the last light on, Andrea already on her side facing away from him.

"Thank you." She says and looks briefly over her shoulder at him. Neil reaches over and turns out the light.

"Do you need a lift?" Neil asks the next morning already dressed for work. The towel on Andrea's head wobbles as she steps around the bed.

"You go; I have to do a few things yet." She says and then stops for a minute. "I'm going to leave my car in the garage." She tells Neil of the inconvenient car space that came with the flat, neither of which use on a regular occasion.

Neil nods, he has to go but is extremely reluctant, there's something he needs to know.

"I'll come and say goodbye before I leave." Andrea says reading Neil's thoughts. He kisses her forehead and leaves for work, after that Andrea stands where she was at the side of the room for the longest time.

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

_

* * *

If you read part 14 anytime before 13 March 2006 I left a small bit out of that part that you will need to go back and read. Cheers._

* * *

"So did you get things sorted with your dad?" Yvonne asks and Andrea looks up from her tea. For the morning she'd felt like she was in the doldrums, she didn't have to think about it to know it's a result of how things are with Neil mostly and the fact she's about to head back to her family in familiar Dalkeith, that now holds a very large unknown. 

"The goods news is he's not sick." Andrea puts on a smile.

"That's great." Yvonne says and it's unusual for her that she doesn't pry further.

"I do have to go back to Dalkeith next week to sort a few things out, family stuff." It's a half truth.

"Are you going alone?" Ordinarily Andrea would think Yvonne is looking for some personal details, something to girl talk about. This time there's too much concern for Andrea on Yvonne's face.

"I'm driving back with dad tonight, Neil's flying up on Monday." Andrea tells their plans.

"If you need to talk or anything…" Yvonne fades unsure if the offer would be appreciated or accepted.

"Thanks." Andrea smiles but the last thing she feels she needs is to go over everything again.

"Andrea is everything alright with you and the DI; he's so quiet and withdrawn today." Honey says joining them.

"I don't know." Andrea says absently, as though she's a half a world away. She realises as she gets up and goes without saying goodbye that Honey's description of Neil's behaviour is exactly the way she also has been today.

Honey looks to Yvonne for an explanation, Yvonne can only tell Honey what Andrea had already told her.

Neil flicks through the mornings internal mail, a variety of invitations to social events, training days and memos he need read only once, though it's last afternoon it's the first chance he's had to do the mundane things, most end up in the circular file. He's felt down all day today, knowing it has everything to do with Andrea, as much as he hates it, he's left it affect him and feels to everyone today he is useless.

He opens the top drawer of the filing cabinet, pushing back the fifth file to reveal the jewellers box. The fifth was the date of the first day they'd met, the sixteenth when he realised he was attracted to her, the twenty seventh the first time they'd kissed, the date they were first together is burned into his brain. He'd used those entire file numbers to hide the ring including the tenth and thirteenth when he realised he loved her and told her so.

He looks at the box in his hands, through everything that has gone on with Andrea and her father; he hadn't had the chance to ask Douglas Dunbar what he wanted to. He still planned to ask for Andrea's hand in marriage, refusing to believe the overtures that their relationship was failing were anything other than a result of the stress she is under.

He slips the ring in its box inside his jacket breast pocket so it can go to Dalkeith with him. As he's locking the drawer again someone knocks on his office door he'd left slightly ajar.

He turns around to see half of Andrea in the gap, his stomach lurches, he hadn't realised it was as late in the afternoon as it is and she's here to say goodbye.

"You finished?" He asks as she slips through the door leaving it as it was when she approached.

Andrea only nods in reply, looking down at her shoes. Her uniform is just her shirt and pants, free from accessories necessary for the streets.

"You're leaving straight away?" Neil asks, in the back of his mind he considers leaving early, he's been of no use to anyone today anyway.

"I just have to put my bags in the car." Andrea says looking up.

It's Neil's turn to nod.

"What time does your flight get in?" She shifts; her body language seems to indicate the conversation is a difficult one for her to be having.

"Ahh," Neil stalls unsure; he goes over and checks the confirmation email on his computer. "It's the red eye."

"I'll be there to pick you up." Neil had actually expected her to say someone would pick him up, not Andrea herself.

"Thank you." Neil says genuinely and walks over till he's standing in front of her. "I'll explain to Jake where you are and that you're sorry you couldn't see him this weekend."

"Thanks." Andrea says...Neil can hear the cynicism in her voice that indicates she's decided Jake will enjoy the weekend more because she's not there.

Though the door is open enough for someone to see in, Neil touches the side of her face just barely. "Drive safe o.k." He requests and takes her into his embrace. As Neil waits for Andrea to put her arms around him Samantha Nixon approaches, not deterred by what's in front of her, Neil doesn't care about what Samantha's seeing, only that Andrea hasn't put her arms around him.

"I love you." Neil says having released his embrace, now resting his hands gently on her upper arms, Andrea doesn't meet his eyes.

"I have to go." She says after clearing her throat. She hurries out the door, pushing it entirely open and brushing past Samantha who's seen everything.

"Guv, I…" Samantha starts only to realise she hasn't got Neil's attention; he hasn't even heard her as he watches Andrea leave.

Neil doesn't even excuse himself to his most capable DS as he rushes after Andrea.

Outside the CID doors she's nowhere to be seen, he debates which stairs she would have taken, the front or the back. At the bottom of the back stairs he finds her heading down the corridor.

His hurried footsteps get her attention, as she turns to see who it is he takes her arm rushing her into the nearest room. The door closes automatically behind them and Neil pushes her gently into the nearest wall. He leaves her no time to protest, her mouth silenced by his in a needy and hard kiss that she responds to, much to his surprise, he'd expected more resistance. They kiss harder before things slow, Neil keeping her pressed against the wall, unnecessarily as she's not putting up a fight.

When his lips do glide off hers he makes sure their faces remain only inches apart. "I love you and if for some reason I didn't get to see you again after today without saying that I would regret it always."

Andrea's eyes remain three quarters closed for a moment and Neil thinks maybe he's just going to get more silence.

"I do love you." Andrea says eyes open now and wide looking to his. She almost doesn't get the sentence out, Neil immediately pressing their lips together again, this time Andrea drives the kiss. In Neil's head he says a thank you only for him to hear.

"I just don't know if we're working out." Andrea says when she's pulled away, further this time; it's not what Neil wants to her.

"I will make us work. Not after everything…I won't give up without a fight." Neil says determined, looking straight at her.

"I know you will. I have to go." Andrea says, she goes to step away but stops herself. "Bye." She says following it up with a kiss of the same sentiment.

"I'll see you Monday." Neil gets in before letting his loose grip on her arms go.

He feels a little better as he watches her walk out the door and he wonders if she could feel the ring box in his jacket as they were kissing. Outside the door someone laughs loudly and Neil looks at her watch, it's time to pick up Jake from school.

* * *

Neil's eyes follow Jake as he exits the school's grounds chatting happily with his friends, he's carrying something in his hands Neil can't make out, something that Neil will marvel over like it's a priceless artefact for Jake's sake although everything about and from Jake is priceless. 

Today Jake would have to come back to the office, sometimes he went home to the flat when Andrea was there and neither had complained about the arrangement so far, when Neil got home there were no tears or complaints but Neil knew Andrea found it difficult. He knows Andrea isn't sure what role she is comfortable with or is meant to play and Jake is just waiting to see what she chooses, if he doesn't like the choice then he might fight it. Neil understands suddenly finding oneself with another woman's primary school aged child isn't the best introduction to parenting and things are probably muddy for Jake also because his father isn't married to the woman he lives with…not yet anyway.

Things would work out, from the odd comment Neil knows Andrea has a growing affection for Jake, despite occasional bouts of cynicism, it would just take time.

Jake stops at the supervised crossing waiting for the volunteers to stop the traffic. Neil's grateful no one at Sun Hill objects to this half and hour he has to take on the odd Friday nor the sight of Jake sitting at Neil's desk doing school work. Much to Neil's surprise Phil Hunter had taken a shine to Jake a few weeks ago, setting him up at his desk to research his project. Then again that's the type of father Neil thinks Phil is, the type that likes to sweep in occasionally to be the hero and to receive the smiles and affection for the gifts he brings. He's no good at being a day to day dad and he can't cope with the hard stuff. Neil had watched the look on Samantha Nixon's face that afternoon as Phil doted on Jake and he wondered if there wasn't something going on there, even something one sided.

Neil's not allowed to meet Jake on the school side of the road anymore, neither is Philippa, he's too old to rush out the gates to his parents, but fortunately he gains a little face by travelling home in a car with credibility, thanks to his parents jobs. As Neil watches Jake cross the road he asks himself when his son became so grown up, it feels like it happened overnight. One day he ran for comfort from a scraped knee to Neil, the next he didn't want to be seen within miles of his parents around his friends and he wanted everything to go up, bedtime, TV and movie ratings and the number of social events he goes to.

Neil had wanted to ask Andrea to collect Jake from school sometime soon, though he didn't want to have to make up an excuse about work to get her to comply, he just wanted her to take another forward step with Jake. Something told him Andrea would agree regardless if she felt comfortable or to, knowing it would make Neil happy. There was bound to be a situation one day that prevented Neil from being outside the gates on time anyway.

On Neil's side of the road Jake says goodbye to his friends and walks towards his father with a wide smile on his face, which in itself is not unusual.

"Hi dad," Jake says a few steps away. What catches Neil off guard is when he keeps walking despite dropping his bag and opening his arms to hug Neil although he only comes up a little higher than Neil's waist. Neil lifts his young son up, not minding that he's nearly choked by the small arms around his next. He holds Jake tightly because of what he's just been thinking about and because of Andrea and everything that's been said between them.

"Did you have a good day?" Neil asks opening the car door and letting Jake back down to the ground.

"Mmm-Hmm," Jake says and Neil shuts the door after his son is in with his seatbelt on and his bag has been rescued. That's about as much detail as Neil will be able to extract from his son, despite his years of interview practise.

"Dad look what I made for Andrea." Neil turns to look into the back of the car surprised. Jake pulls a clay bowl out of the small bag Neil saw him holding as he came out of school. The bowl is imperfect in the manner of a primary school artist, a design of awkward A's decorate the outside.

Neil takes the bowl from his son turning it over, seeing where the teachers has put Jake's initials in the bottom and where Jake left his fingerprints trying to smooth out the top.

"It's terrific, she'll love it." Neil says still focused on the bowl. He wonders why Jake decided to make something for Andrea, he's not going to ask why, immensely happy that he did.

"Dad can I have it back?" Neil hands back the gift hoping it means Jake is taking another step in his relationship with Andrea, without Neil's gentle encouragement or insistence. After years of getting Jake to accept Andrea was in his father's life, they still had something between them that made them appear just that little bit uncomfortable around one another, Neil knew it was something only Andrea and Jake could fix themselves. It's possible that fact there's a new man in Philippa's life also has something to do with it. A conversation with a teacher, a friend, seeing something, it doesn't matter what it was, Neil feels his mood improve.

"Jake, Andrea's not going to be home this weekend; she had to go to Scotland today." Neil tells his son whose face drops, disappointment awash, it's exactly how Neil had hoped his son would react.

"Oh." Jake says looking down at the gift in his hands.

"We should wrap your present up and give it to her when she gets back, she'll need cheering up and a surprise is just what will do that." When Jake smiles Neil turns back around and starts the car.

"Dad did you and Andrea have a fight?" Neil stops, hand on the automatic gear shift. He didn't think that fact would be obvious but if Neil's learnt anything from Jake it's that children are intuitive, they can cut through adult's lies and deception and they're almost always brutally honest. Neil turns back to look at his son who looks concerned and sad but not pleased.

"She just had to see her family, she hasn't visited them in a while and her dad needed her." Neil explains keeping things simple.

"Do you need me dad?" Jake asks innocently and Neil's heart almost breaks.

"Every second of every day," Neil says unable to explain how he hates to take Jake back to Philippa's on Sunday nights.

Pulling the car away from the curb Neil looks at his son in the rear vision mirror. "Have you had a good week?"

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

* * *

Neil goes to call for Andrea as he opens the flat door, stopping himself because he knows she's not there. Jake runs past him to his room and Neil wonders if there are any signs of the previous occupant left. There are no messages been left for either Neil or Andrea, the flat neat, tidy and a little lonely which makes Neil thankful he has Jake here.

"I thought we'd go tomorrow and buy some paint to do the wall with." Neil says as Jake unpacks the modest bag of the things he transfers between his two homes.

"The blue one I picked?" Jake asks excited as Neil lifts the duvet and checks the sheets on the bed, Andrea has changed them back to Jake's racing cars.

"Yes and then I thought we'd get you a new duvet, one you pick." In a way Neil's glad he has this time alone with Jake, father and son bonding, after all soon he won't want to do this sort of stuff let alone be seen with his father.

"Yeah?" Jake confirms, in his excitement he has stopped unpacking.

"It could be another surprise for Andrea when she gets back." Neil says working her into the equation.

Jake goes on unpacking while Neil looks around the depersonalised room; it needs some pictures or posters and somewhere to put the items Jake treasures.

"Can we get a TV for the room dad?" Jake asks as Neil realises the one important thing that's missing.

"We'll have to see about that but you do need a desk." Neil smiles at his son and stands to leave the room. "How would you feel about staying Sunday nights and I take you to school on Monday?"

Jake shrugs his shoulders like it doesn't matter where he is as long as he's with either mum or dad. Neil files the response away for later.

"Are you and Andrea going to get married?" Neil had made it to the door, way before he got the question that spins him around. He wonders where it came from, though not assuming Jake isn't smart enough to connect Neil's last question to Andrea and marriage.

"I'd like to, how would you feel about that?" Neil asks carefully, coming back to sit on the edge of the bed again.

"I dunno, I mean I like Andrea." Jake shrugs again, sitting next to his father. Neil's secretly pleased about Jake's admission of affection for Andrea; he's convinced progress is being made.

"Me too," Neil smiles at his son and puts his arm around him.

"Would you have more babies?" Jake asks with a maturity beyond his years.

"I don't know, I think you're trouble enough." Neil teases and tickles his son.

"Would you like a brother or a sister?" Neil turns serious again.

"I dunno." Jake says again, "Jamie Matthews mum got married again and now he has a baby sister, he says she cries all night and keeps him awake." Neil says a silent thank you to Jamie Matthews who obviously is the reason for the slight shift in attitude towards Andrea and the questions asked in curiosity that afternoon. Though Jake's answers are non-specific Neil knows he's thinking about it now and within the next week, probably out of the blue, Jake will let him know what he thinks.

"Where would we put a new baby?" Neil says lightly. "He'd have to share a room with you." Neil teases and Jake's nose screws.

"What if it was a girl?" Jake asks, always thinking about things.

"Then I guess we'd have to move to somewhere bigger." Neil laughs." Do you want something to eat?"

"No, can I go and see if Mitchell's home?" Jake asks eagerly. Mitchell Dawes lives one floor up, is the same age as Jake and goes to the local school. Jake had met him the second weekend he came to stay, having a friend in the building had made Jake's transition to Andrea's flat a lot easier.

"Am I cooking tonight or take-out?" Neil doesn't need to ask, he's surprised he hasn't had Philippa on the phone complaining about the meals Jake eats when he's with Neil.

"Take-out, take-out," Jake chants.

"Don't leave the grassed area of the flats…" Neil instructs.

"Be back by dark or when Mrs. Dawes sends me home." Jake drones having heard it all before.

"See you." Neil smiles, an indicator Jake can go. Neil had seen Mrs. Dawes on the stairs that morning, she knew what day it was, and Jake would be expected.

In the living room Neil looks at the phone and considers calling Andrea, he stops himself knowing she'll call when she gets there and if she doesn't he'll call then. He hopes during the long drive Andrea and her father talk and sort a few things out. In the meantime he backtracks over the conversation he has just had with Jake, he has plans for himself and Andrea beyond the one that involves the ring in his jacket pocket, plans that involve some of the things that had just been mentioned. He wants equal time of Jake, he wants more children, especially with Andrea and that will mean a bigger place. He has a feeling Jake won't mind any of those things.

* * *

When the car jolts suddenly Andrea wakes up with a start, the road ahead is clear and she can see nothing behind them in the side mirror. She looks across at her father whose eyes remain on the road ahead of them. The tiny clock in the car indicates they've been driving for a few hours already, Andrea had felt nauseous since they'd set off, she'd gotten them out of the city before pulling over to buy something to settle her stomach with that hadn't worked, her father drove from there. She's never been one to get car sick so she assumes it's about where she's headed and the unknown from there on. Though it's still light she'd fallen asleep, unable to remember the last town they'd gone through before the one that's approaching. 

She knows she should be taking the opportunity to talk with her father but she's said all she wants to and is afraid she'll just yell and get angry again. Talk will only distract her father and if things were to get heated it would lessen his concentration on driving, personally Andrea also doesn't want to make her nausea worse.

She knows she should call Neil but there's not much to say and he has Jake and they deserve time alone together. Despite his overtures of how he feels about her and determination to maintain their relationship Andrea can't help but feel there are fractures appearing as a result of long held issues between them that haven't been spoken of, ignored since they occurred, that are compacted on by new ones.

She's about to close her eyes again when she realises they should have slowed by now.

"Dad!" Andrea screeches, her father looking across at her quickly then back.

"What?" He asks like she's over reacting to nothing.

"You just went through a stop sign…without stopping." Though there were no consequences Andrea can feel her adrenalin pumping. She no longer feels safe with him driving.

"It's almost dark, there's no one around." Douglas Dunbar brushes off.

"Pull over dad, I'm driving." Andrea says through a locked jaw.

* * *

Neil lies awake in bed in the dark wondering why Andrea hasn't called, by his calculations they should be there by now. A tiny bit of him is worried something has happened to them, its irrational fear driven by the fact Neil knows Douglas Dunbar doesn't drive well. 

"Dad," The small voice says hesitantly into the darkness.

"What's wrong Jake?" Neil asks sitting up, both Manson's squinting with the light that floods the room, Jake holds his arm in front of his eyes.

"I had a nightmare." Its clear Jake is trying to sound brave but he's not convincing.

"Come get in." Neil offers the empty side of the bed. This used to be almost every night when he was married to Philippa; they'd eventually stopped the habit in their young son but not before it was destructive to both their sex life and sleeping patterns.

Until this point Jake hadn't had trouble sleeping in the new location. As Neil watches his son lethargically round the bed he wonders if maybe this isn't the first incident but he's been reluctant to come to the main bedroom because Andrea's been there. It could also have to do with their conversation earlier in the evening, something that went on at school or something he did that afternoon with Mitchell Dawes.

Jake climbs into what is Andrea's side of the bed and snuggles closer to his father, when he's still Neil turns out the bedside lamp adding a nightlight to the list of things that will be purchased tomorrow.

"Is this the first time you've had a nightmare while staying here?" Neil asks into the darkness.

"Mmm-Hmm," Jake says sleepily, the response could go either way and Neil figures he'll wait till morning.

When Jake's breathing becomes soft and rhythmical, telling Neil he's asleep and Andrea hasn't called he picks up the phone using the speed dial for her mobile.

"Hello." She answers sounding distant.

"How was the trip?" Neil asks assuming she's there.

"I've got about an hour to go." Andrea calculates and Neil looks at the clock.

"Did you hit traffic?" He asks but can't imagine she would have.

"Dad ran a stop sign; I don't know how many hours ago, I've been driving ever since so I've made a few stops." Neil listens hard and he can faintly hear the sounds of the road.

"Have you and your dad talked?" Neil asks knowing it's a sensitive question.

"Well I was about to and then…" The sound of Douglas Dunbar snoring filters down the phone line.

"Fair enough," Neil says when the snoring silences, Andrea with the phone back to her ear.

"Why are you talking so low?" She asks.

"Jake's asleep next to me, he had a nightmare. Actually I don't think it's the first one he's had but he hasn't felt he could come into the room." Neil realises he shouldn't have added the extra detail, now's not the time to be talking about things like that. Then again it's a means of connecting himself, Jake and Andrea together.

"And I was worried you'd be sleeping alone." Andrea jokes and while Neil laughs once, he has to wonder if she really was worried or if it's a joke to avoid further discussion on the topic.

"He's disappointed you aren't here." Neil feels inclined to add.

"I'll see him sometime soon." Andrea says…the lack of a date glaringly obvious to Neil.

"You tired?" He asks. "You sound tired."

"I feel nauseous actually, have for the whole drive. I took something but it didn't work, I think it's about where I'm headed and not knowing what's going to happen."

"You should stop somewhere." Neil suggests.

"Yeah, look I really should go, I haven't pulled over to take this call and I ought to have." Neil instantly wonders if it's the truth or it's an excuse.

"O.k. drive safe, I love you." Neil clings to the hope she'll return the sentiment.

"Love you too." Andrea says and Neil waits till the phone line is dead on her end before hanging up.

Next to Neil Jake wiggles and mumbles something for the second time since he'd dropped off to sleep. Gently Neil slides his son further across the bed away from him, hoping it won't be a longer night than it's already been

* * *

Instinctively Neil smiles at the warm body next to him the following morning. As his consciousness picks up and he realises there are no feet next to his he remembers its Jake not Andrea next to him. He still smiles. 

"It says…" Jake reads from the DIY help sheet he'd picked up when they were out shopping that afternoon. "The first rule of painting is." Jake reads slowly.

"Pay someone to do it?" Neil says more to himself as he covers the bed and its new duvet with an old sheet.

"Nope, pro…protect…protective sheets." Jake manages to sound out.

"Then we're ready." Neil hands his son a small paint roller, it's as much independence as he will have. Neil will pour the paint, put it on the roller that doesn't have the ability to do much damage, it's too small, Neil's in charge of the corners and the edges.

"I'm out of paint dad." Jake says a few minutes later, the roller paints sporadically over the white wall.

"Do you remember what your nightmare was about last night?" Neil asks conversationally, not wanting to appear demanding. He rolls a thin layer of paint onto the roller so it won't splatter and hands it back to Jake.

"No." Jake sighs, over it now.

"I used to have them when I was your age." Neil reassures his son though he can't remember if it's true or not. "Is it the first time you've had a nightmare?"

"I have them sometimes." Jake says obviously not concerned by the fact.

"Only when you're here?" Neil asks carefully.

"Sometimes at mums," Jake says without care.

"You know you can come into my room if you have a nightmare when Andrea's here, its o.k."

"Mmm-Hmm," Jake says focusing on his painting. Neil lets the conversation die.

When the wall's half done its Jake who breaks the silence, he'd been putting more effort into the job than his homework; there was no room for talking. "Is Andrea's dad sick?"

Neil stills his brush wrapping it in plastic to stop it drying out; he sits on the bed, once again having to answer a question from his intuitive and intelligent son. From Neil's vague words he'd figured one possibility was the Douglas Dunbar was sick, he is almost right.

"No," Neil says. It's not an outright lie; it just saves having to do some complex explaining and bringing things down to Jake's level. "He just needed her help."

"Like I'm helping you?"

"Sort of, it's just more important than painting." Neil explains and Jake seems happy with the explanation, resuming his painting.

"If you and Andrea get married does that mean I'll have three lots of grandparents?" Jake asks out of the silence again.

"I don't know, I suppose, I hadn't thought about that, would it be weird for you?" Neil asks once again stopping what he's doing. He looks at his son almost able to see the gears of his mind turning over; it's written on his face.

"If you and Andrea get married and have a baby and we move to another house, can I have the room away from the baby?" Jake asks seriously. Neil had been expecting him to think about things they'd talked about but not to have answers and follow up questions quite so soon. Neil smiles to himself because Jake seems fine with him marrying Andrea and having more children. It is the things most important in Jake's life right now, friends, food, TV and sleep that he was worried would be affected.

"Do you think it would be a good idea for Andrea and I to get married?" Neil tests the waters a little more.

"Well you both live here." Neil deciphers it as meaning yes, Jake having seemed to have formed the idea that people who live together should be married, no doubt coming from the fact that up until not long ago he knew no different.

"And you'd like to have a brother or sister?" Neil pushes further.

"Can I have a brother please?" Jake asks like he's picking what he wants to eat, it makes Neil laugh.

In the kitchen, living room and bedroom the phone starts to ring. "I'll see what I can do about that." Neil promises through a laugh as he goes to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"It's me." She sounds tired and instantly Neil wishes he was there.

"Hello me," Neil says with affection, sitting down onto the edge of their bed.

He looks back at the clock, it's just gone three. "I've just gotten back from the interview."

"How'd it go?" Neil has an ache knowing he should be there to support her.

"They asked him about the night in question but he can't remember anything, my mother is driving me crazy, she thinks I'm over reacting and dad has withdrawn completely, he's totally different to how he usually is."

"I should be there." Neil says moving the carpet absently with his toe. He doesn't have to ask to know she would have been crying at some point and feels lost and overwhelmed.

"Staying with Jake was the right thing to do; you're going to paint the bedroom aren't you?"

"We've nearly finished, bought a new duvet as well and a desk and nightstand, a picture of a Ferrari but I stood firm on the TV. Just don't tell Jake he wants it to be a surprise." As if on cue, Jake wanders into the room, paint on his forehead.

"I've made a doctors appointment for dad tomorrow, God only knows what he's going to say." She sighs.

"Andrea?" Jake asks sitting next to his father, it won't be possible to continue their conversation now.

"Hang on." Neil asks of Andrea and covers the phone with his hand. "Don't tell her about your present or what we're doing." Neil instructs going to hand over the phone but then stops. "The stuff we talked about…"

"About getting a brother or sister?" Jake guesses.

"That's our secret o.k., not for Andrea or your mum to know, promise."

"Promise," Jake repeats and then takes the phone. "Andrea."

Neil watches Jake's face light up and his heart does a happy leap.

"We're just hanging out." Jake smiles at Neil knowing the secret they share.

"Are you going to be back by the time I come over again next weekend?" Jake asks hopefully and Neil wishes he could be privy to the answer Jake gets.

"O.k. well I'm going to go and see if Mitchell's home." Jake smiles at Neil again, he wants to get back to painting. He hands the phone back to his father and leaves with a final smile to Neil.

"I don't want you to worry about tomorrow; Alzheimer's rarely turns up in someone as young as your father." Neil tries to reassure Andrea.

"It could be the early stages of that or dementia." Andrea comes back.

"I could fly up tomorrow, I should be there." Neil says softly.

"Please, I want you to stay with Jake, it's important to me, Monday's only one more day."

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Not really it tends to fade in the late afternoon when everything's done and I've gotten used to everything, then it's back again the next day." Andrea explains.

"You call me anytime you need me." Neil continues to talk softly, still worried about Andrea.

"I'll see you Monday." Andrea says clearing her throat to loosen the lump that's making her sound upset.

"You will." Neil confirms. "Bye."

"Bye." Andrea says and hangs up.

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

* * *

Despite the thick fog Neil knows will delay the flight, he doesn't drive any slower, he's anxious to get to Andrea and at this point he'll feel better once he's at the airport and the reason he can't get closer to her is someone else's fault.

If it's possible the fog seems thicker as he leaves his car in the long term parking and gets onto the shuttle bus. There's only two other men in suits that get on with him, talking hurriedly on their phones, probably making arrangements to push back meeting times and appointments.

Neither of the three strolls into the departures terminal when they're let off at the front door. Neil hurries to the nearest TV screen that reads just as he expected it to, all flights delayed.

"For how long?" Neil says to himself, wishing there was someone who could tell him definitively, he should have gone with Andrea Friday night.

"Until someone can see their hand in front of their face out there," A man answers Neil who was checking the status of the flights when Neil had arrived, the thick American accent makes Neil feel as though he is being mocked for not being accustomed to this type of delay.

He joins the check in queue and once through spends his time wandering aimlessly through the overpriced stores. By the time the fog has burnt off and his flight is called, Neil's eaten the food and read the magazine cover to cover he'd bought for the flight. It doesn't matter, his anxiety to get there is heightened and it's all he's concerned with. He doesn't relax until the planes descent is announced.

On the other end Andrea glances quickly at the arrivals board as she orders her third coffee, she looks back, longer this time as an expected arrival time is finally posted. Andrea thanks the man for the coffee, pays and checks the arrivals gate number, it becomes her new waiting place.

Neil gets quickly out of his seat as soon as he can and tries his best to beat as many people before they stand up to collect their carry on luggage from the holds above. He fails miserably getting stuck frustratingly behind a family with two children in tow. Usually he'd be accommodating but not today, he wants off the plane and to find Andrea.

She snaps her book shut angrily when she sees Neil's flight starting to come through the gate doors, she'd bought the book she'd been meaning to read for a while on a whim after the first hour of waiting, now she was mid chapter and Neil was looking through the sea of waiting friends and family for her.

"Finally," Andrea says without humour or a smile.

"Thought I'd never get here," Neil says looking relieved to finally see her, scooping Andrea into his arms and despite her annoyance she can't help but hold him back.

Neil kisses her on the cheek and slowly releases her.

"Let's get out of here." Andrea says annoyance seeping back as she picks up her book. They collect Neil's luggage in silence and he trails behind her as they head to the car park.

"Whose car is this?" Neil asks as Andrea opens the back for his luggage.

"It's a rental." She replies, her tone ending anything further on the subject. Neil watches her as they drive out of the airport, obviously trying to decipher her mood and what's going on.

"What did the doctor say about your father?" Neil asks ten minutes into the trip to Andrea's parents.

She'd been so annoyed about the flight she'd pushed aside her concerns about her father. "He's too young for it to be Alzheimer's or dementia though it could be the very very early stages of those. The only way to diagnose conclusively is by doing an autopsy." Andrea shifts in her seat as she explains the only way to diagnose. "The other option is he's hit his head and experienced some minor trauma at some stage and the memory loss is a result of that."

"That would make sense given the accident he was in." Neil says wondering why Andrea's just gone from annoyed to angry.

"He didn't kill that kid." Andrea says putting her angry eyes onto Neil for just a little longer than he's comfortable with.

"I didn't say that, you told me your mum said he hit a tree, that's all I meant, it could have happened then." Neil defends himself realising Andrea was right; their hostilities have simply changed location.

"He didn't do it." She repeats and Neil leaves it alone, he hardly wants to start the day and the semi reunion with a fight and he definitely doesn't want to meet Mrs. Dunbar while locked in another round of arguments with her daughter.

Once inside the house Neil takes a minute to orient himself and absorb his surroundings, the house feels dull though it's almost the middle of the day, the dark wooden furniture and deep greens, browns and reds certainly don't incite any feelings of life in the house.

"The bedroom is up the stairs and at the end of the hall." Andrea says stepping around him and into what Neil assumes is the kitchen.

"Is anyone else here?" Neil calls picking up his luggage.

"Dad's at work, mum is volunteering at the hospital which I've just learned she does for a few hours Monday's and Tuesday's." Andrea says reappearing, she seems annoyed she wasn't informed of the changes; Neil comes to the realisation that things probably won't improve with them while Andrea's here. They are too close to her parents and being back in the childhood home on top of everything else won't help…Neil wishes he'd booked a motel for them. "She works a few hours in a local bookstore Wednesday's, Thursday's and Friday's."

"I'll unpack." Neil says, uneasily heading upstairs.

The bedroom at the end of the hallway still has a sign hanging off it announcing its Andrea's room, as the other two bedrooms have her brothers' names on them as well. Inside Neil imagines this is not the way the room was decorated when Andrea slept in it each night. In contrast to downstairs the room is light, almost painfully light, everything a degree shade of beige away from the next thing. Colour is scarce and Neil wonders how it looked when Andrea was here, pinks or reds, lilacs, posters and pictures? Did it always have a double bed?

"Do you want some tea?" Andrea asks appearing in the doorway.

"No thanks, I had enough coffee at the airport and on the plane I could have flown myself." Neil puts his bag on the bed but doesn't miss the short annoyed sigh that Andrea leaves the room on.

"Are you angry with me because my plane was late?" Neil calls as he turns wondering if Andrea will come back or keep going.

"Four hours I sat at that airport for." Andrea says coming back; Neil now knowing this is the source of her annoyance.

"So did I." Neil keeps his voice level and calm so as not to fan the flames, "Longer actually."

"No one would tell me what time you were getting in, there was no point coming back here because I might have had to turn around and come back again straight away, you didn't contact me." Andrea lists, counting each off on her fingers.

"There was no point; I knew no more than you did." Neil pauses and stands.

"Did you stop to think maybe I was annoyed too because I was anxious to get up here to you and would have done something if I could. I also was inconvenienced because I wanted to be with you after missing you this weekend and hearing the things you were going through, knowing I should have been there."

There's an emotion filled pause from Neil who looks across at Andrea who is clearly affected.

"I needed you this weekend." She says with her emotional voice, she takes two steps into the room.

"I know." Neil sighs relieved she's admitted it. "I should never have let you talk me into staying for Jake when you needed me. I'm sorry."

He waits for Andrea to come to him, it needs to be her decision and she does almost immediately after he apologises. She buries her face into his neck and cries silent tears, Neil's missed the way she holds him so tightly, he's missed her full stop.

It starts out with gentle caring and concerned kisses on the back of her neck where he'd swept away her dark hair and graduates to nibbles and sensuous kisses and sucks, hands travelling to places on her caressed only in private.

"Neil we can't." Andrea says her soft voice betraying the fact she's totally taken by him. She makes no attempt to stop him, cradling the back of his head so he won't pull away. The breath from her sigh, a mixture of contentment and joy, tickles the back of Neil's neck.

"Yes we can." Neil says quietly determined, slowly bringing Andrea to look at him. "When's your mum home?"

"Two hours."

"We need this Andrea, we need to be together, it's been too long and I've missed us, I want us back on track." Neil sides his arms loosely around her waist as he opens up to her.

Andrea's vocal protests have been weak to say the least; she no longer bothers, moving with anticipation towards his lips. They take their time enjoying the soft brush of their lips against each others.

"I don't think it's good for us to stay here, let me find us a motel." Neil says between kisses.

"Mmm," Andrea says when she feels Neil's tongue skirt along her lower lip. "I want to be here for dad."

"You need to think about what's best for you too, what you need." His hands trail down her arms and back up over her hips and waist.

"You," Andrea says and Neil pulls away smiling.

Their clothes peel away with care as though each item is a layer of skin that reveals wonderful things. They lavish attention on every part of each other as it is revealed, small sounds of pleasure resonating as they rouse the delicately sensitive spots of one another.

They take their time and care, slowing down the world around them to bring the focus onto themselves, attention they haven't given each other in a number of days. It's time to heal and get reacquainted; they'd grown a way apart in a few short days.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

* * *

The pillow feels softer than it is, the covers warmer and Neil closer. He's not far, lying on his stomach next to her on the bed, smiling across at Andrea who too lies on her stomach facing Neil. His eyes flutter shut for a minute but Andrea doesn't stop looking dreamingly at him across the pillows. It feels like the last week is a bad dream and suddenly she's in love with him all over again like that wondrous time when love is new and there's nothing that could possibly diminish it and things are uncomplicated, you exist in a world that's just the two of you.

Fittingly her nausea seems to have been swept up in the new feelings and has disappeared.

"I'm home." The voice floats up the stairs and panic instantly strikes Andrea's face. Neil opens his eyes with Mrs. Dunbar's announcement that she's home.

"Oh shit." Andrea curses and instantly rolls over to get out of bed, dress and hopefully cut her mother off before she gets into the room.

"Hey, no," Neil grips her hand tightly stopping Andrea from getting any further than where she sits on the edge of her bed. His eyes can't resist the gentle curve of her bare back.

Andrea turns following her outstretched arm to where it joins Neil's, her look asking if he's crazy and communicating just how urgently she needs to get up. The sound of her heart beating in her ears mimics footsteps on the stairs.

"The door is locked from the inside; we're the only ones that can open it." Neil sits himself up behind Andrea still holding her hand.

"This is time for us, time for us to mend." He kisses his way up her spine from the top of her back to the base of her neck, with each one she relaxes.

"Lie back down." He gently encourages, bringing them slowly back down into their pillows on their left side and pulling the covers back over them.

"Andrea, are you here?" Mrs. Dunbar calls, her voice is louder now, she's upstairs where they are. Andrea tightens though she knows the door is secure. She turns onto her back, better able to see Neil's face who looks totally relaxed. Still on his side his lips press a kiss to her temple, an arm finding its way around her as Andrea waits for a knock at the door, it never comes.

"We need to do this more often." He whispers against her temple and knowing he can't see it, Andrea rolls her eyes, too much sex is not enough for a man, "Just time for us, not for work or family, for our relationship."

Realising she was wrong about Neil's motives she whispers back agreeing, they continue to whisper and place affectionate touches on one another until Neil starts to doze. When he doesn't answer her when she asks if he's asleep Andrea gets up and dresses.

She looks back at him before opening the door, it's then she realises just how much she needs and loves him, how much she's missed him these past few days.

The phone starts to ring as she makes her way down the stairs, Andrea expects her mother will answer it but the insistent person calling hangs on until Andrea picks up the extension in the kitchen.

"Andrea Dunbar." She answers seeing her mother out the back in the vegetable garden she cultivates in the summer and is so proud of.

"Hello Ms. Dunbar this is DS Kincade, I wasn't expecting you to answer the phone." The past few hours with Neil drain away. The argument, anger and aggression play through her minds eye, the anxiety, frustration and panic she remembers too easily. Her annoyance with Neil, at his attitude, reaction and what he thought she should be doing come back

"I'm visiting for a while." Andrea says carefully, unsure of what the female detective wants.

"I'm ringing because we'd like to have our forensic team go over your father's car tomorrow." Andrea starts to worry; it most likely means they have shards of glass or paint flecks to compare with.

"I'll make sure it gets brought down in the morning." Andrea's determined to go with the car, if she can't get in the door Neil will.

"We'd appreciate that." The detective sounds strange, maybe she thought the request would be harder or maybe she's just thrown by Andrea answering the phone.

Both women hang up without a parting greeting. Andrea stares at the phone after she's put it down till a voice surprises her.

"I didn't think you were here." Andrea looks up to see her mother with herbs in her garden gloved hands. "I saw the car outside…"

"I was up in my room." No point in outright lying it only leads to questions and deeper lies, over the years she'd become polished at selectively lying.

"I called out you didn't hear me?" Andrea's mother asks washing the herbs under the tap.

"I heard you, Neil and I were talking." The selective lie, they did more than talk.

"Where is Neil I'd like to meet him," Andrea's mother cheerfully asks. Andrea looks at the clock, it's almost four and her mother's starting to cook. It must be going to be an elaborate feast by non-royal standards.

"He's upstairs asleep." Andrea tells her mother pulling up a chair.

"Asleep?" Her mother questions, pausing in her efforts to dry the herbs.

"He was scheduled to be on the red eye this morning but it was delayed." Andrea informs her mother getting up again and looking for something to drink in the fridge.

"I did think you'd be back before I left, is everything o.k.?" As Andrea pulls a jug of cold water out she knows firstly her mother's not asking for anything to do with the flight and secondly Andrea doesn't know herself if things are alright with her and Neil. The last hours had been wonderful and it needed to happen for them both but as soon as she came down and took the phone call it was though it never happened. She knows despite their immense physical connection and love for one another it might not be enough and she is starting to think hours of talking would be fruitless as well. So far neither of them had shown any real desire to talk about anything reasonably and that she suspects may be their fatal flaw, that and the fact sometimes they just don't talk about things all together instead ignoring them, forgetting them and putting them aside but they're still there. It hadn't taken them as a casualty during the divorce, her lies or Jake, it may well now.

"We just needed to talk mum, we hadn't done that in a while and this stuff with dad, we were fighting." She finds herself wanting to reach out to her mother and tell her she'd realised how much she missed, needs and loves Neil. She'd felt the same during the divorce and Jake and while she'd spoken to her friends generally she was aware they were uncomfortable talking about Neil or anything to do with him, so she held back on detail. Andrea doesn't know why she can't tell her mother things, it meant a very lonely time for Andrea. The friends she had left behind to come to London were now too distant to unload such personal things on.

For a minute she wonders if she's sacrificed friendships and made Neil her whole life…she quickly discounts the possibility.

"Is everything alright between the two of you?" Andrea looks back from the fridge, there's concern in her mother's voice.

"I'm not sure." Andrea says honestly, it's a positive step.

"Is it serious?" Her mother stops what she's doing and Andrea asks herself how far she wants to take things, how much detail she wants to go into, again it's about the woman opposite her.

"I'm not sure." Andrea repeats, ending the conversation by taking her water into the next room.

Later she comes back to the kitchen noticing her mother is in full chef mode, tonight's meal is going to be a production worthy of an award.

"Do you want some help?" Andrea asks sneaking up on her mother.

"If you wouldn't mind, the meat's got to go in the oven soon otherwise we'll be eating at midnight."

"The police want dad's car to be brought in tomorrow for forensic testing." Andrea says as she sits down, they talk briefly about what's happened and what may well.

"Smells good," Neil says out of nowhere, Andrea's head snaps around from the carrot she's cutting and her mother looks up from where she's checking the meat in the over.

"Neil!" She exclaims like he's a long lost friend, almost giddily she approaches him and kisses his cheek, and Neil does the same in return.

Andrea raises an eyebrow to Neil as her mother follows the kiss with an embrace, it suggests by doing nothing more than being here, sleeping and coming downstairs he's made an impression; he tilts his head slightly in a gesture that indicates he'll take the warm reception. "It's nice to meet you finally." Andrea's mother says holding Neil at arms length and inspecting him. His clothes are crinkled from sleeping in them and he's yet to brush the sleep from his face but other than that…

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Dunbar." Neil says politely, from day one Andrea knew he could 'take him anywhere.'

"Oh it's Caroline please; you're making me feel old." Andrea's mother laughs uncomfortably, going back to the oven.

Neil shuffles to the chair next to Andrea's, sitting down before nuzzling the side of her face while Andrea's mother is busy with the oven.

"How are you feeling?" He whispers as his lips trace the ridges of her ear and press light kisses to her cheek, instinctively Andrea dips her head touching the side of Neil's face with the fingertips of the hand that was cutting the carrot.

"Fine," She pulls away when she sees her mother glance in their direction from the sink.

"You going to put me to work?" Neil asks, under the table his knee comes to rest next to Andrea's, she slides the chopping board in front of Neil. Andrea can sense her mother is watching how she and Neil interact as they prepare the rest of the vegetables. She would have been curious before but now has the added information from Andrea this afternoon. If she's looking for signs of fractures in the relationship he gets only love and affection, Andrea covers well, her arm around Neil, her hand in his or his lap, a gaze across at each other, not that she doesn't mean it or feel it but it keeps the other stuff well hidden.

"Did you sleep well?" Caroline Dunbar asks starting to clean up.

"I did thanks, I needed it, and I was up for the red eye this morning though it was delayed and yesterday…" Neil stops himself knowing what he was about to divulge. He looks across to Andrea, he gets the feeling she wants to be the one to explain the next part, something about the look on her face and the tightening of the muscles in her arm. Caroline Dunbar doesn't miss the exchange either.

"Mum Neil has a child from his former marriage." Andrea ventures, waiting hesitantly for an answer, she's ignored.

"Boy or a girl?" Andrea's mother asks cheerfully, turning her attention to Neil.

"A boy, Jake," Neil answers and looks across to Andrea.

"I'm sorry to ask but Andrea never told me, or that you were married, maybe she thinks I won't approve." Andrea's mother says to Neil who looks back to Andrea wondering why and what else she hasn't told her parents, this is what was behind the feeling he got just then, "How old?"

When Neil discloses Jake's age, Caroline Dunbar leads Neil down a memory lane of what Andrea and her brothers were like at the same age as Jake. Andrea good naturedly leaves the room when it becomes too embarrassing and what Jake has to do with Neil taking an afternoon nap is forgotten.

* * *

"Should I read anything into the fact you didn't tell your parents about Jake?" Neil asks semi seriously as he gets ready for bed that night, they'd said goodnight to Douglas and Caroline, Andrea was already in bed with the duvet wrapped closely around her. 

"I didn't tell them we we're living together either." Andrea says, Neil had already come across that fact and to him it seemed very strange, along with the fact Andrea never had him come to the phone when she called her parents, then again neither did he so that maybe wasn't so unusual. They both seemed to be waiting for a 'right time' for them and a place when it came to parents and the phone wasn't it.

"Why didn't you?" Neil decides to ask, turning back the duvet and getting into 'his' side of the bed.

"I don't know." Andrea says, Neil can tell she's not lying. "I don't have that sort of relationship with my mum; we're not that mother and daughter that shares everything. It's not that I was intentionally lying to her, I told them I was seeing you when you were still married." Neil knows she knows intentionally lying as well. "She'd ask if I was still seeing you and I'd say yes."

"But you didn't tell them I was married at the time." Neil cuts in.

"Some details aren't necessary, that didn't matter to me, I still loved you and there are some things I'm just not comfortable talking to my parents about." Andrea turns over to face Neil.

"You thought maybe they wouldn't approve." Neil repeats Caroline Dunbar's words from earlier that afternoon.

"That didn't matter to me, there are just some things I didn't feel comfortable talking with them about and that's one of them." Andrea turns back over again. "It's not like they live around the corner and they'd find out."

"They're your parents." Neil implores, then. "Your father did."

"Hardly a normal incident and just because they're my parents doesn't mean I feel comfortable talking about my entire life with them." Andrea feels she's repeating herself. "My mother comes across to me as someone who would have a hard time seeing our situation as anything but foreign, she was married at twenty, pregnant at twenty four, I don't think she'd understand our way and the fact what we have works for us."

"So you didn't think she'd approve?" Neil repeats from earlier, he gets no reply and realises Andrea doesn't want to admit what he's just said is true; he needs to reach out to her again.

"So it's not about me, you're not ashamed of me." Neil says with a smile, shifting closer to Andrea.

"Absolutely not," She says definitively, looking at Neil for a second over her shoulder for reassurance and to make sure he believes her. "Just look how you were this afternoon, the original boy you can take home to meet your mum."

"She was really excited about Jake; I think she feels like she's just got her first…"

"Don't say it." Andrea cuts Neil off.

"Come on Jake's really warmed to you." Neil thinks back to Friday afternoon then tries to imagine the happy look on Jake's face when Andrea unwraps her Jake Manson original. "I mean who knows." Neil finishes thinking about the ring in the bottom of his bag; Andrea turns over to face him and tries to get a meaning from the cryptic statement.

"Your dad was quiet tonight." Neil says changing the topic, Andrea's eyes close after she gets her pillow the way she wants it for her new stomach sleeping position.

"He's worried about tomorrow; he was like it before the interview." Andrea informs him eyes still closed.

"It'll be o.k. you know." Neil assures her.

"Mmm-Hmm."

"Do you feel nauseous about tomorrow?" Neil asks inching the covers down her back slightly.

"A little, I will more in the morning." Andrea says sleepily as Neil gently sucks and kisses her shoulders. She says nothing for a minute until he steps up the intensity, "Mmm no Neil."

"Come one, cat's out of the bag." He says putting his face next to hers into the pillow. "If we don't they'll think something's wrong."

"Just not tonight, I'm tired." She's yet to move as muscle, her protests verbal. Neil backs off a little, positioning himself with the length of his side touching Andrea's.

"What's happening tomorrow?" He asks already finding the bed too soft again.

"I'm taking dad to work and then taking the car down to the station, mum's going to come get me when I'm done." Andrea says through a yawn.

"I'll come with you, I want to introduce myself and see if I can get a look at the case file at the least."

"Mmm-Hmm," Andrea says sounding a little closer to sleep.

"Night."

* * *


	19. Chapter 19

* * *

It doesn't surprise Andrea that she wakes early. Neil had shifted and turned over multiple times during the night, Andrea doesn't like the bed either, it's one thing she's glad couldn't go with her to London. She hadn't slept well either, waking multiple times to be immediately bailed up by concerns about her father.

The house is silent but Andrea knows her mother will be up doing something; her father will lie in bed until the absolute latest time that he can and then will rush to get to work on time.

Andrea looks across at Neil who's sleeping soundly, he's breathing silently the only indication of his consciousness is the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

She says a small thanks that she wasn't lazy last night and put her robe next to the bed, the morning chill has mere seconds to caress her skin before it's banished by the robe. She pulls the duvet on her side of the bed back up so it covers Neil, other than that she gives him neither a second glance nor thought.

Andrea finds her mother sitting in one chair, feet up on another looking out over the backyard, coffee in hand.

"Morning mum," Andrea says opening the cupboard to get down the coffee, food is the last thing she feels like. Still sluggish it's only a matter of time before she starts to feel unwell.

"Morning, where's Neil?" Her mother asks cheerfully. The question annoys Andrea, she can't decide if it feels like her mother expects them to be joined at the hip or a strange adult version of when she was a teenager and a friend was desperate to have contact with another friend's older sibling so they would ask constantly about them.

"He's still asleep." Andrea answers normally flicking the kettle to boil again. As she turns towards her mother she thinks she sees the last of a look on her mother face. One that says despite the warm greeting yesterday and her understanding of Neil's weekend and Monday that he should be up by now, "He works hard mum, harder than I do, he hasn't had time off in six months and he hates the fact he only sees Jake on the weekends so he spends his whole time with him, he doesn't just sleep all day." Andrea defends.

"I didn't say anything." Caroline Dunbar points out, standing out of her chair, "You don't have to explain or justify yourself to me."

What she saw made Andrea compelled to do so.

"I'm making breakfast for your dad; I'll make you and Neil some." Andrea's mother says cheerfully pulling food out of the fridge.

"Thank mum." Andrea says disinterested, she can already feel nausea creeping in as she takes her mother's seat, looking over the backyard and thinking about what might happen today.

A half an hour later she's sitting in the same spot, the breakfast her mother made sitting untouched in her lap, it's long since cooled.

Andrea hears his footsteps a long time before his arms slide over her shoulders and cross over her chest, she knows his footsteps, the way he sneezes, the way he laughs and how he breathes, she knows him that well.

"Morning," He greets pressing a kiss to her collar; Andrea shifts her head enough to see his arms in her peripheral vision. She doesn't feel angry or upset with him but has no inclination to return the greeting so she doesn't. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You were sleeping." Andrea says like it should be obvious.

"I thought we could have some more us time." Neil says huskily resting his cheek next to Andrea's.

"There are things to do." Andrea says and Neil drops the embrace, confused at the disinterest Andrea is showing towards him after yesterday. For the first time he starts to feel annoyed by her hot and cold swaying, the moods and anger he had ignored and tried to calm but over the week they had now used up most of the tolerance he had for them. He is now more convinced they need to get out of this house and if he thought it wouldn't cause more anger and resentment he'd suggest they go home. He opens the fridge and looks back to Andrea, he hadn't though about it before but it occurs to him he also had father issues with Philippa and now here he is again, of course the situation is totally different.

"So what's happening today?" Neil asks as a means of restarting a connection between them, he already has some idea of what the day will consist of.

"I'm taking dad to work and then dropping the car off." Andrea says getting out of her chair with her uneaten breakfast and empty coffee cup, Neil reaches for the milk pushing the fridge door closed a little too firmly.

"When's that happening? I'll come with you, save us taking two cars." Neil watches Andrea scrape the food into the bin, waiting for an answer.

"Fifteen minutes." Andrea says quietly and Neil instantly looks at the clock.

"Fifteen minutes," He repeats. It's already eight thirty. Andrea doesn't see the anger rising in him as she rinses her plate in preparation for the dishwasher.

"I'm not showered," His anger evident in his voice.

"Dad has to be at work at nine." She says simply turning to face Neil.

"Well that's just great." In anger he puts the milk heavily down on the counter, making no attempt to hide his current state of emotion. He strides out, understandably annoyed because Andrea knew he wanted to come this morning, he'd made it plainly clear last night and she should have woken him, at any other point in their lives she would have, it's she who sets two alarms for the morning after a late night. Now he expects her to be cold one minute and affectionate, however reluctant, in the next and he's beginning to resent Douglas Dunbar for the problem's he's cause between them.

* * *

On the trip to Douglas Dunbar's workplace, Neil sits in the back behind Andrea who's driving, thinking about Philippa. He looks up at the rear view mirror at regular intervals but as far as he can tell Andrea doesn't so much as glance at him. It doesn't take much to think back to the periods when Roy Pearson dominated his life and relationship with Philippa. It was all they fought and yelled over, all Neil thought about and it resembled where he and Andrea are right now – too closely for his liking. 

There were so many times when he'd look at Philippa and wonder if he really knew her at all or if he was finally seeing her true side that she'd kept hidden all those years. He wondered how an intelligent, educated woman could take the stance on her father's actions that she did, it led Neil to wonder what other deep, dark secrets she had of her own or held of others and was willing to keep locked up tight. What sort of woman could over look those actions, turn such a blind eye or was it an indication of the strength of her love for her father, something he'd also underestimated in Andrea, just like he did Philippa.

Philippa shut him out though more frequently, the affection between them disappeared no matter how hard Neil tried to keep it up, they'd go days without speaking to one another alone, but always maintaining the norm in front of Jake. She'd yell it was none of his business and to leave it alone but Neil couldn't do that, it was in his face at work and morally he couldn't overlook it, it turned his stomach. He recalls Andrea's bitter words that Douglas was her father not his, as if that small factor should keep him from getting involved, he was, every time she leaned on him or talked to him about it. Philippa preferred everything to be swept under the proverbial rug, to go on with life as if nothing had happened or was happening, to maintain that same public persona and level of admiration in the community, loving wife and mother with the perfect life, just as long as the one big skeleton didn't fall out of the closet. Andrea doesn't want to sweep things away, she broke down and cried at work but she's not heeding his advice or listening to his reasoning and she can't see he wants to stay calm and rational about things and support her, to her it's a sign of disinterest in the issue or a lack of faith and trust in her on his part. It's that which is causing a problem between them.

He never saw any of this until now though he's sure he hasn't actually missed it at any point through their relationship.

He looks into the rear view mirror again and Andrea glances back at him for a second. Neil asks himself if in Andrea he has found himself a little piece of Philippa, both women different but the same when it comes to fathers.

Neil finds himself trying to answer no to the question when the car stops and Douglas Dunbar kisses his daughter goodbye. He doesn't hear the farewell directed to him.

"Neil?" Andrea questions turning around in her seat, he instantly snaps back from his thoughts.

"Have a good day." Neil smiles though he's too preoccupied to sound like he means it.

"Are you getting in the front or do I have to chauffer drive you?" Andrea asks when her father's gone; she neither turns nor looks at him. Slowly he gets out of the car and gets in the front.

"How far is it?" Neil asks once they've rejoined the morning traffic.

"No more than ten minutes." Andrea says negotiating a corner, Neil lets silence fall between them.

He chooses the moment that Andrea pulls up in front of the police station to air his frustrations. "I'm trying to reconnect with you now this is almost all sorted."

"You really think that now is the time or place?" Andrea switches off the car and pulls out the keys.

"Which is why I wanted to get us a motel room," Neil implores.

"I'm not staying in a motel when there's a perfectly good bed at home, the food's better and cheaper and I can be there to support mum and dad." Andrea finishes and immediately gets out of the car, the door slam and she locks the car despite the fact Neil's still in it.

"The bed makes my back ache." Neil says out loud to no one, his empty stomach reminds him he had to skip food this morning so he could be ready on time and he asks Andrea mentally as she disappears inside of the station what about his support of her.

Neil watches the front of the station waiting for Andrea to come out, it annoys but doesn't surprise him that Andrea walked out on the conversation, and he's determined to resume it when she comes out. Behind him a small car pulls up and Neil watches in the side mirror as Caroline Dunbar steps out. She takes a few steps towards the station before looking back to Neil and heading towards him.

"What are you doing sitting in here?" She laughs as she settles into the seat behind Neil. "Where's Andrea?"

"She's inside." Neil says casting another glance to the front of the building.

"You're not going in?" Clearly Caroline Dunbar finds that odd.

"No…I," Neil starts then stops, it occurs to him maybe there are some things she can talk to her mother about. "Has she said anything to you about not feeling well?"

"No, nothing," Now Neil has to wonder exactly what Andrea talks on the phone to her parents about each week. After a second something twigs in him, her voice just wasn't right, she wasn't convincing, it's as if halfway through she realised what it might be. When Neil turns around Caroline Dunbar looks confused and worried at the same time so he brushes aside the niggling feeling.

"It's just she says she's been feeling nauseous over this whole thing and I'm worried, she's felt this way since Friday, that's what she tells me anyway, she's up and down moody, it's not healthy, I think she should be further away from it all."

"She won't go back to London." Caroline Dunbar says and Neil watches Andrea comes out of the station accompanied by an officer.

"I know." Neil lets Andrea's mother know just how concerned he is.

"They're going to take the car for forensics." Andrea says sounding a little cautious.

He looks first to the very new looking PC that stands next to Andrea and then at her mother once they're out of the car. In silence they watch it being driven into the back of the station.

"Well I need to go; I'm due at the hospital soon." Neil is grateful someone else breaks the silence; he's done enough of that lately.

"I'm going to stay and introduce myself." Neil directs his answer to Caroline Dunbar as though she was actually asking who was coming with her.

"Are you alright to get back?" Caroline Dunbar asks looking at her daughter who has been conspicuously silent.

"I'll find my way." Neil says unconvincingly and pauses to look at Andrea who offers nothing, he walks off towards the station with a small reassuring smile to Caroline who has noticed the obvious, things are tense between the two. Neil doesn't mind her knowing she might get something out of Andrea though the chances are slim after what she'd told him.

He listens for the female voices as he has his back to them, but there are none at least until the point when their doors close and they have relative privacy.

* * *


	20. Chapter 20

* * *

The SRO looks very new and overwhelmed where Neil approaches the desk. Slight and with untamed red hair she appears to be taking the brunt of a uniformed officer's frustration. Neil waits watching how she handled herself.

"Can I help you sir?" She asks Neil in a high squeaky voice when she sees him, she seems to be grateful to have Neil's distraction; it gets her away from the dressing down.

"I'd like to see DS Kincade please."

"Do you have an appointment?" The young SRO asks picking up the phone.

"No, it's in relation to the hit and run." Neil offers before he has a chance to be asked.

"Take a seat." Neil is instructed, he hears the SRO talking to DS Kincade as he selects one of the uninviting and uncomfortable chairs, designed that way so people don't loiter.

When as casually dressed brunette comes through the door and has words with the SRO Neil knows it's the DS he wants to talk to, even before he is pointed towards.

She's in jeans which are more casual than Neil usually likes, in a fitted black blouse and jacket; the jeans hide most of the shoes that propel her well beyond Neil's height.

"DS Kincade, Mr…?" She strides confidently towards Neil, shoes clicking and material swishing.

"DI Manson, Metropolitan police." Neil says standing and the hand the DS was offering stops for a second but joins Neil's in a firm handshake none-the-less. With his spare hand Neil flashes his identification.

Over the momentary shock of Neil not being what she expected, DS Kincade seems not to be intimidated by Neil or his position. "Well you're a long way from home, sir." She shows no signs of inviting Neil any further inside that the waiting area.

"In a way," Neil says slowly coming to the realisation this may not be an easy task, he though his position might open more doors.

"I actually was hoping you were someone who had some information for me." Though the last thing she looks is disappointed.

"I was hoping you'd extend a professional courtesy and let me in on the hit and run case." Neil ends the pleasantries.

Fiona Kincade shifts her stance as the reason for the MET officer in front of her becomes clearer. "What's your interest? I mean it could hardly be linked to something down your way."

"I'm…" It's Neil's turn to be uncomfortable. "I'm Andrea Dunbar's fiancée." Fiona Kincade reads Neil's reluctance to come from explaining his reasons, in truth it's about representing himself as being nearly tied to Andrea, as much as he'd like it to be, it's an untruth however small and one that could so easily be confirmed as a lie. When he's trying to get someone to do him a favour of this size, he doesn't want to be found lying.

"So you thought you'd have a chance of getting your foot in the door." It's not the usual tone of respect Neil's accustomed to but he's aware he has less than no jurisdiction, he relies on the goodwill of others. "I'm surprised, sir…" It has a tiny ring of disrespect about it. "I would have though someone with your experience would know there's no way I can let you do that. If this goes to court and it is your soon to be father in law who's responsible it could be thrown out." Neil really doesn't need to be reminded it could appear as though he's intentionally trying to sabotage the case.

"I don't believe Douglas Dunbar had anything to do with this particular incident." Neil is adamant, not that what he believes makes any difference.

"So the little trip to London was a planned trip was it?" Again a pinch of sarcasm Neil detests in subordinates but he's got no power here and the woman opposite him knows it.

"I'm asking you if you could make an exception and let me look at the case notes and evidence, I don't want to shadow you or work on the case with you." Neil brings himself to the compromise he had been willing to make if necessary. He watches Fiona Kincade's face change, he can tell she's waning, the tough exterior is coming down, she's probably getting pressure from her DI and DCI to find the person or person's responsible, Neil's possible help probably looks attractive right now.

"You're going to have to give me that ID that says you're DI Manson." Neil pulls his identification from his pocket and hands it over.

"My DI will be back in two hours, you can have the front interview room to look over the case files, eyes only, no copies, you leave under my escort only and you don't go outside the room without me. If someone asks who you are, you're here to make a statement on an unrelated case. After today I never see your face in here again." DS Kincade lays down her conditions.

"That's fair enough, what if I don't need the two hours or I need to use the loo?" Neil asks trying to rumble the still in control DS.

"There's a phone in the room, I'm at 923, and I'll come and get you." Neil nods. "Show me the way."

An interview in progress sign lights up when Neil enters the front interview room ensuring he won't be interrupted. The case file is thick and it soon becomes clear he's not going to remember all the details and it will take much of the short time he has just to read the file. The room is bare but perfunctory, a table, few chairs and an elaborate tape recorder that makes duplicate copies of interview, it's empty, ruling out the possibility of dictating the information he wants to take with him.

He picks up the phone thinking he can call Andrea and get her to write what he needs down but after trying each single digit combination he accepts that to get an outside line takes a multiple of numbers. When he uses his mobile he gets no answer at the Dunbar home or on Andrea's mobile, leaving multiple messages is too time consuming and costly.

In the end Neil pats his pockets after he's finished reading the file for his mobile again, by the time he's created scores of unsent text messages with the information he wants in them his fingers ache and the ability of his eyes seems to have deteriorated in the dull lighting.

"Well what do you think?" Fiona Kincade asks sitting in the chair opposite Neil a few minutes after he'd called her to let her know he was done, he made sure he used all the time he had, rereading over some things. She doesn't seem as confident or as hardened as what she did a few hours ago, in fact Neil would swear there's a type of hope in her voice, that he's found something she's missed, something that will equal a break through in the case.

"It's too early to tell but if you rule out Douglas Dunbar then you may have to go to a community appeal and you may never find whoever it was."

"That's what I'm afraid of." DS Kincade looks down to the floor and she means it but Neil senses there's something more to it, like she has a personal connection. Neil sifts through the scene photographs one last time trying to burn each image into his brain, the camera on his phone just didn't show up with enough detail. "Are you going to go out there and have a look?"

"Probably tomorrow," Neil had planned. "The report from the forensics on the car…" He enquires.

"I'll get you a copy when you get the car back, most likely tomorrow." Fiona Kincade taps the desk with the pen in her hand, there's more she wants to say.

"I'll get out of your hair." Neil says standing up.

"I'd appreciate a call if you come up with something, I'm getting pressure…and in turn there's a lot of community pressure." She pulls out her card from her pocket and holds it out for Neil, knowing it's an unusual position to put him in, regardless of the relationship between suspect and investigator.

"Sure." Neil says taking the card, on the way out Fiona Kincade thanks him. When she's gone into the depths of the station again Neil takes a moment to analyse…he's just met a DS whose work morale is rock bottom right now.

* * *


	21. Chapter 21

* * *

Outside the station Neil tries to orient himself to the city but he can only remember what way he came to the station from, not what direction it is.

He calls Andrea's mobile but it's still switched off and with his new frustration with her he curses. He heads inside again asking the SRO for a phone book making note of the address where he's staying. He walks down a few houses not wanting to appear to be loitering outside the station given the favour that's just been extended to him. After ten minutes he tries the numbers again and when he still gets no answer he asks for the number of a cab company from the next person he passes. Twenty minutes after leaving the station he's back at the Dunbar's home, cold and annoyed. It grows when he discovers Andrea's not at home, her rental car gone, only her mother's out front.

He feels uncomfortable searching the fridge for something to eat, actually he feels uncomfortable full stop in the house since he and Andrea are further entrenched into the hostilities between them. He felt much more comfortable yesterday when Caroline Dunbar had been warm and welcoming and in their room he saw glimpses of Andrea as she was before her father arrived. Still his stomach is signalling it's about time for the second meal of the day and it voices its opposition to skipping this one as well.

Neil takes his food to the large dining table that looks over the back yard, as he eats he makes page after page of notes, recalling things from the case file that he didn't put in his text messages, he surprises himself with just how much flows off the end of his pen. When that runs dry he starts retrieving his messages from his phone's outbox, they contain the basic and crucial information from the case, as he continues to write he adds more as it comes to him and he realises he hasn't done this much case work in a long time and he finds himself enjoying it and missing it although one of the suspects is close to home.

When he's done and he's filled out page after page he goes back to the beginning and reads everything he has over and over. The date is definitive; the time ascertained by the coroner, they correspond to when Douglas Dunbar would have been driving through. The weather was reported to have been clear that night, discounting any possibility of its involvement. The section of road is straight and well maintained though not lit in anyway and just wide enough for two vehicles to pass, still there was no oil or others substances that could have contributed to the death. The tyre marks indicate whoever it was did attempt to break; their length could not suggest the car wasn't travelling at excessive speeds; the tyre width was fairly standard and would match most common cars on the road, including Andrea's fathers. There appeared to be no involvement from any other vehicles but that's impossible to ascertain without witnesses.

There were shards of glass and plastic over the road, they'd been tested and typed and would no doubt be checked against the broken headlight of the vehicle they dropped off this morning, at this point Neil expects it to come back as a type match, he hoped it wouldn't be positively matched though.

He looks over the notes he's made from the coroner's report of the victims, the longest list of shattered bones and body organs destroyed Neil has seen in a long time, the point of impact could be and was determined. Neil looks over the sketches he made from memory of where and how the body laid, death wasn't instant. Neil shuts the informal file he's made himself of the case, though it's all circumstantial at the moment there are many obvious connections that have made Andrea's father a logical first choice, tomorrow's results of the forensic testing will either make him a suspect or the major one or discount him all together.

As Neil puts the plate in the dishwasher he starts to think about how the damage could have been done to the car if it wasn't involved in the hit and run. When he hears the front door open he still hasn't come up with anything.

"Neil, you're home, I thought you were going to call, how did you get here?" Caroline Dunbar is polite and friendly and genuinely surprised to see him. As Neil picks up his informal case file he notices Andrea is watching him, standing behind her mother but wears no expression on her face.

"I did call, no one answered so I called a cab." It's unfair to Caroline Dunbar but Neil makes his annoyance known, Andrea, either oblivious or not wanting to hear anymore walks off towards the front of the house again. Neil watches her go and then listens as she heads upstairs.

"I'm so sorry." Caroline Dunbar apologises profusely, she looks back from where Andrea disappeared, to Neil. She's no longer overly cheerful. "I didn't know you were trying to reach us, Andrea didn't tell me what your plans were or that her phone was off."

"It's o.k." Neil smiles genuinely, it's Caroline Dunbar's daughter who should be apologising.

"I took Andrea out for some distraction after being at the hospital but it didn't work, she said hardly anything."

"Thanks for trying." Neil sighs.

"You must be hungry, I'll make you something." Keen to make up for abandoning Neil, Caroline opens the fridge.

"Thanks, I hope you don't mind but I already made something." Neil says almost sheepishly.

"Of course not, you're very low maintenance; Andrea doesn't know how good she's got it, when I first met her father he was very much the bachelor. I spent the first twelve months we lived together training and reprogramming him." Neil laughs both politely and because he had to be adjusted with both Philippa and Andrea.

"Andrea refuses to wash my clothes." Neil offers.

"That's my daughter, watched me wash her father clothes most of his life and complain about it." Caroline Dunbar nods and Neil leaves it at that as she starts to make herself something to eat.

"You two will be o.k. won't you?" The question is obvious but places Neil unsure of how to answer, not that he has an answer himself.

"We've been through worse that this." It closely resembles the answers Neil gave Douglas Dunbar in London but Caroline isn't about to settle for the general answer.

"Would you like to talk Neil?" She stops what she's doing. "I know men hate to talk, God knows Douglas sometimes, but I know exactly what Andrea's like."

Neil hesitates and Caroline Dunbar sees it.

"We can sit outside, she'll never know." It was just one of the things Neil had considered, the last thing he needs on top of everything else is accusations of betrayal.

Though Neil never verbally answers, Caroline Dunbar reads the affirmative look on Neil's face. "I'll make us some coffee."

* * *

"I know your history with Andrea." Caroline Dunbar says quietly, Neil doesn't look at her but he's not surprised she does know. "Douglas told me about the tough time you had through your divorce, the fact Andrea lied to you and adjusting to having Jake in her life." 

"I wish I'd met Andrea first." Neil says after a minute, it's cool and he needs the coffee to warm his hands on, more than as a stimulant. "Then I'd never have had to put her through my divorce, it would never have mattered she was a journalist and we would never have had to go through the humiliation of getting our relationship blessed by our senior officers. Even if those reasons weren't there I still wish I'd met her first, it's just it's been the divorce, her untruths and Jake when we've argued like this."

"Andrea lied to you and I know she was in a tough spot, in love with you and her journalism work and she wanted to tell you from the start but she felt so had to lie so she could maintain her role at the Daily News, no one would have blamed you if you couldn't get past that."

"I could never have walked away, I was in love with her more and more each day, it wasn't an option, so I came to forgive her." Neil reflects back. "Everything was going well again but now there's this, not that I'm blaming your husband but Andrea said from the outset she didn't want this to affect us and I believed it wouldn't, I totally misjudged the relationship with her father."

"Well I would blame my husband in part, coming to you was one of the stupidest things he's ever done, you're more lenient than I am." Caroline Dunbar says.

"I can see why he did though, fear is just a natural reaction but Andrea couldn't see that, she was angry and disappointed with him." Neil defends Douglas Dunbar.

"It's exactly the reaction I'd expect from Andrea in that situation." The admission catches Neil's attention and he makes a point of deciding to come back to it.

"I didn't help things, I came home last Tuesday in a bad mood after snapping at Andrea earlier when she asked a favour of me, your husband had locked himself out and she needed me to let him back into the flat. I wasn't supportive at all." Neil knows he's not faultless.

"Then again, that's hardly something that you're angry about for days and days is it?" Caroline Dunbar counter argues. "From what I've seen you're anything but not supportive, you're here now aren't you, trying to help, trying to comfort?"

"Yes but the problem is we're both inclined to get angry about things, yell and argue about them until we've had enough and then retreat to our corners to simmer and then cool down, we never seem to resolve anything or talk it over, that's our biggest weakness." Neil explains.

"Andrea's always been that way." Caroline Dunbar takes mouthful of coffee. "You must talk about things sometime to have gotten this far in your relationship; divorce, secrets and children aren't small things."

"I think we've put things on a shelf somewhere in the past because we do love one another and don't want it to end us and we try and forget about them but they're still always there and they've been dragged up and added to this that's new."

Caroline Dunbar is silent waiting for Neil to continue.

"Andrea says I don't trust her." There's pain in Neil's words but Caroline Dunbar smiles and Neil instantly feels uncomfortable.

"If I know Andrea it's not you she doesn't trust, it's herself, she'll be terrified she's going to hurt you again, she'd rather push you away than have that happen again." Neil's quiet for a moment as he thinks about the new possibility.

"I'm trying to be calm and rational through all of this but Andrea sees it as a lack of support and sympathy on my part, she accused me of not believing her. She thinks I'm taking the higher ground, presenting myself as the higher ranked officer, more experienced and in control. It never occurred to me she might see it that way, I thought the best thing for her was for me to be strong, be there for her when she needed to be comforted, to listen to what she had to say but to also offer her suggestions when she became hysterical…"

"Oh Neil you have done the right thing, Andrea knows it and she's grateful, she's just…"

"Consumed by this," Neil finishes.

"Exactly," Caroline Dunbar smiles reassuringly.

"I said we'd find out what was going on with her father together, she broke down in tears at work Wednesday, your husband hadn't told us why he was here and she couldn't ask. I was at work the next day when the police called, she was angry because of that but the truth is she would never have asked if it weren't for that call." Neil continues.

"She would have spent hours imagining and panicking about what it was and in the end the irony is she wouldn't have wanted to know because then her worst fears might have been confirmed. What's also ironic is she's always taken anything she fears head on but it doesn't surprise me in the least that's not the case here." Again the exception for Douglas from the norm is mentioned by Caroline Dunbar, he works hard not to make connections to his ex-wife's actions and reactions.

They won't go away and suddenly Neil puts his cup on the ground next to him and puts his face in his hands.

"Neil are you alright?" Caroline Dunbar looks at him concerned, Neil wants to tell her what he suspects and to have her tell him Andrea is warm, loving, fun, affectionate, intelligent, considerate and kind and she doesn't have a connection to her father that blinds her like Philippa.

"I think our arguing is about the stress she's placed on herself because of her father but all she wants to talk about is our relationship."

"Because she can control that, she can't the other and that's a part of what makes her so upset." Caroline Dunbar sheds more light; it all makes sense too easily.

"She didn't say she was coming up here till I asked, she said she was staying a while and she didn't invite me, I had to say I was coming…I think she wanted to ask me…"

"She was trying to protect you, she probably thought she would get up here, fix things up, come back and put it all on the shelf."

"But she told me she needed me the weekend just gone." Neil adds, Caroline nods, "She's felt nauseous since she started on the way here, now she's here she still can't see I'm trying to help. She's consumed by the whole incident, it has her total focus and that's why I think it would be better if we weren't staying here." Neil explains.

"I don't disagree with you Neil but she won't and there's one very big reason for that." Caroline Dunbar waits for a minute for Neil to offer it up, like Andrea he's thought about it and doesn't want to have it confirmed. "My husband enjoys a relationship with my daughter that I do not, it's always been that way. Douglas has always been…not perfect in her eyes but she's held a certain adulation for him, she has him up on a pedestal – a status I don't enjoy. She's always told him everything and me almost nothing. When she was younger she wanted to do everything with him. Now there's this and he's just come crashing down, she now sees he's human like the rest of us, fallible and it's hurting. Douglas is lucky it lasted this long, it usually ends in the teens."

"I can see that." Neil says slowly, staring across the backyard, he says nothing for a while just letting it all sink in. He asks himself why he didn't see it before, were there signs he missed, did he ignore them because he didn't want to see them, making him exactly the same as Andrea. "Andrea told me she thought we should be over."

"Oh Neil, I'm sorry." Caroline Dunbar says softly. "She's over reacting right now, she doesn't mean it."

Neil looks across to Andrea's mother, he can't see why Andrea can't talk to her mother, it's been so easy. Then in light of the information he's just been given…

"It's getting cool let's go inside." Caroline Dunbar encourages but Neil needs to be alone.

"I'll be in, in a minute." He says vaguely, Caroline Dunbar pats him twice on the shoulder as she passes him to go inside

* * *

_To ease the pain of the fact the last two partswere short on N.A I'll let you know part 22 is all N.A and an emotional scene.

* * *

_


	22. Chapter 22

* * *

Its late afternoon and the sun's disappearing but Neil doesn't notice. Andrea had her time in their room to come to the conclusion their relationship wasn't working, with this new information, Neil now takes his.

He asks himself if he still loves Andrea, if he wants to be with her, if he wants a family and a future with her, they're easy questions with almost instantaneous answers of yes. He looks back asking how instrumental the father stuff was with Philippa; it had been the last straw with him but was not the reason. They never talked, there was no affection and it was what he saw he could have with Andrea and wanted, and his love for her that spurred him into divorce action.

He never regretted or looked back for one minute. He decides it's not fair to lump Andrea with Philippa in the same category just because they share a common trait, there are so many wonderful things about Andrea that distinguish her from Philippa, things that he longed for and wanted in Philippa for years, things she couldn't give him.

He knows to make a decision about the future based on the past and someone else from the past is absurd and unfair to Andrea and himself. He knows this is just one small thing about Andrea that may never be day to day, there are so many others which outweigh it.

He asks himself if he attracts or is attracted to a certain type of woman, it was looks personality, ambition, position and manner that attracted both women to him; beauty, strength, personality and intelligence for Neil.

He turns his thoughts to sitting across from Douglas Dunbar and to asking for Andrea's hand in marriage, showing her father the ring. He thinks of sometime at the end of this week when everything is resolved and they're back in London and he can tell Andrea he trusts her and not to worry she won't hurt him again, when he can apologise for the way he was during the divorce and she says she understands, just like he does for the way she was about her father. When a small, cooked and hardened lump of clay can bring her and Jake closer, they'll never be mother and son but their relationship can be strong.

The door slides open again and Neil thinks its Caroline come to chase him inside or offer him fresh coffee. Andrea stands in the doorway looking right at him, she looks hesitant as are the steps she takes towards him, and Neil doesn't take his eyes off her.

"Are you avoiding me?" She doesn't want it to be true; he can hear it in her voice. It's not an accusation, nor does she sit down next to him. Neil quickly scans the windows of the house that look over the backyard, if Andrea's here at someone's insistence they're making themselves scarce. He looks back to Andrea.

"I could ask you the same thing." Neil replies normally, now's not the time to point out he's only sitting in the backyard, not letting him oversleep, not letting his phone calls go unanswered, ignored, not walking away when she's faced with her actions.

"I saw the file." She says carefully, no indication if she went through its contents or not.

"Yeah," Neil says noncommittally, he gets out of the chair and steps past Andrea going for the door.

"You're walking away from me?" It stops Neil where he is, something in her voice tells him the question's not just about his present actions, it's about them.

He steps back to her and cups her right cheek in his hand. She doesn't lean into his touch or acknowledge it in anyway; she doesn't fight it off either. "I'm cold." He says which is what his action was supposed to indicate. "We can talk inside."

Neil tips what's left of his stone cold coffee down the sink and puts the cup in the dishwasher; Andrea has walked on, to somewhere private no doubt. Neil picks up the file off the dining room table; Caroline Dunbar is dusting as he walks through the living room.

"I can go out for a while, make myself scarce," She offers. Neil doesn't have to explain what's going on.

"It's your house don't be ridiculous." Neil says and keeps walking; Andrea will be in the bedroom which they will no doubt uncomfortably share tonight.

Neil decides not to put the file in front of Andrea and have her read it when he gets to the bedroom, there's too much chance she'll get worked up and upset, she's sitting nervously on the edge of the bed. Neil closes and locks the door, longing for the reason for the lock to be that of the last time they used it, he knows there's no chance it will be.

He stands, back against the wall wondering where to start, in the end he begins with DS Kincade's conditions, her request for help and the means under which he read and gathered the information.

He moves onto the rest of the information he has, he keeps it free of bias, simply running down the dates, times of death, conditions, injuries and evidence. When he's done she's quiet.

"So you're saying you think it was him." She's calm and non-accusational but Neil naively hoped they could avoid this question and its close relatives that will surely come later. He though he was neutral in his explanation, he wonders how she got fault from his words. Then again this may just be a reflex to now being partially closer to the truth, a truth she has imagined and doesn't want confirmed.

"I'm saying and you need to know it's a possibility, the evidence says he was in the right place at the right time, the tyre mark widths are the same, he has damage to the corresponding side of his vehicle consistent with hitting something vertical. But it's not all the evidence; the forensic testing of the car may well exonerate him." Neil stays calm but he knows it will be of little consequence.

"You think it's him." Her voice raises a little and she already seems angry at what Neil has not confirmed.

"I didn't say that, I'm simply saying the evidence we have at the moment does fit his movements, it could fit others as well. If I did think it was him I'd be saying something along the lines of he may have had one or two drinks that night, he's forgetful which may have affected his driving, but there's nothing conclusive right now but he is in the frame and running frankly hasn't leant him much credibility." The last bit Neil knows he should never have said and he'll pay for.

"You think it was him, it wasn't him," Andrea repeats. There's no question about her anger now or her level of denial. Neil recognises she's attacking him as the bearer of the confirmation she doesn't want and as someone she wants separate from it all. Inside her head she probably just wants to be held and comforted.

"Well the evidence is pointing that way." Neil says in a 'you're just going to have to accept it' manner.

"It wasn't him." Andrea protests louder and her stubborn refusal to see anything other than what she wants to frustrates Neil.

"Andrea it looks like it could have been him." Neil says firmly almost yelling himself.

"It wasn't him." Andrea repeats only more determined and Neil abandons the calm he promised himself he'd stick to.

"God you're just like Philippa," Neil outbursts. "She could never see past the end of her nose about her father, either, she went into denial about everything, chose to ignore the issue, swept it into hiding."

Instantly he regrets saying the words, he was regretting them as he uttered them, it was like saying apples and oranges are the same because they come from trees, it's just one tiny similarity between Andrea and Philippa that should never have been pointed out.

None-the-less he has no plans to apologise and Andrea stands from the bed, tears streaming down her face, the comment hurt. She doesn't look at him as she passes and opens the door but doesn't quite get through it. For the first time she looks at Neil, it asks him how could he and instantly makes him feel guiltier.

He doesn't see it coming, there just wasn't the anger or the bitterness on her face but her palm deals a sharp sting against his cheek, a reminder of how he's hurt her that burns long after she's gone. Though he's not happy about it she thinks he deserved it and he can only admit he should not have said the words.

He certainly doesn't expect her back a minute later and it's obvious she's not back to apologise. "You know why I know it wasn't him?" She stands a few feet from Neil, having slammed the bedroom door behind her.

"It doesn't matter; you believe what you do unequivocally, no questions asked. I try and show you what the evidence is saying so far and…" But he's interrupted.

"It wasn't him, I know it." Andrea repeats and for Neil it's grown cumbersome.

"How can you know, we don't know what anyone is capable of in the right situation under the right circumstances." Neil yells, unconcerned if it leads to another slap, Andrea's just too frustrating right now to back down from and ignore.

"We're talking about leaving someone to die on a dark road, it wasn't him." Andrea stands firm.

"How do you know that?" Neil challenges.

"I just know." Andrea yells and Neil rolls his eyes.

"That's not enough!" Neil says incredulously.

"I've seen him have a screaming two year old on his lap and a minute later the child's laughing…I've seen him coach teenage football – boys from estates, he sends flowers from the garden in summer with my mother to give to strangers at the hospital where she volunteers. He serves hot meals on Christmas Day at a shelter for men who have no family to go to. He picks up people walking through the snow and drives them to their destination even when it's in the opposite direction he's going in." She's passionate in her defence but then her face contorts, it's not pain but something has changed in her. "He has too much compassion to have done this." She stops again.

"Andrea?" Neil asks concerned.

"I'm going to be sick, you're making me sick." She says before rushing out of the room, Neil hot on her heels.

Head over the toilet she dry reaches, there's nothing on her stomach. Neil holds her hair out of her face and rubs her back soothingly as she starts to cry. She slides down the bathroom wall continuing to cry when she heaves no more. Neil finds some mouthwash offering it to her watered down. "It will take away the taste."

She stands slowly after a few minutes, swirling it in her mouth and spitting it down the toilet, much to Neil's surprise she then places herself in his arms.

"This whole things is making you feel sick, all the worrying you're doing." Neil says calmly, her tears flow silently now as he takes her back to the bedroom.

"That's why I wish you'd let me take us to a motel." Neil tries again though he has no hope.

"And you don't believe me or trust me." Andrea slides down the bedroom wall this time.

"Not this again." Neil says kindly and without judgement. "Of course I do, I would have kept you in the dark about the case otherwise, I only wanted you to know what the current evidence is saying."

"It's saying he did it." Andrea says and those words Neil hopes indicate things might be changing. He slides down sitting next to her.

"If you didn't want me to find out, if you didn't want me here, why did you let me come?" Neil gets no answer but Andrea shifts herself, crawling between his legs, sitting back against his chest. Neil wraps his arms tightly around her and breathes in the scent of her hair. They remain like this for a long time and Neil's more then happy for it to be that way.

"Why can't you accept there's a possibility he did this, even if it was an accident?" Neil asks softly, holding her closer in case she decides to leave.

"'Cause he's my dad." Andrea says sounding upset again; she turns to look at Neil her face begging him to understand. It's the answer Neil expected but still he can respect her reasons.

He encourages her to turn around, sitting side onto him now, her arms around his middle, head lying against his shoulder blades, legs tangled. Neil knows what he needs to say, "I'm sorry I compared you to Philippa."

"But its true isn't it." She chokes out; Neil hadn't expected it to be her response.

"No." He says smiling down at her. "You're doing this for all the right reasons; Philippa always did it for all the wrong reasons. You care about your father, all Philippa ever cared about was appearances." It's then Neil realises adulation for her father is the only similarity between his ex-wife and Andrea. Andrea's dealings with her father will never come between them, it was Philippa's reasons he hated not her adulation. "It may have been him, but that doesn't mean it was deliberate, he may have had a seizure, that would explain the memory loss. He wakes up, thinks he's fallen asleep at the wheel and drives home not remembering a thing. We'll find out tomorrow for sure."

"You know now you didn't know what you were getting into with me don't you…I'm sorry." Maybe it's just Neil but he feels like she slightly puts physical distance between them.

"It's not true, my eyes were always wide open, wide open because I couldn't believe someone as smart and beautiful as you wanted to be with me, I love you, I pursued you even when you had doubts and I've put you through so much, my divorce and Jake and you stuck by me. I've never thanked you for that and I should have because you got me through the darkest days of my life." Andrea's silent, taking his words in.

"I don't think we're going to get through this." Her voice is cracked and emotional and Neil thinks about his answer.

"I think we are…" There's not much else to say and it's a strange situation for Andrea to be in the arms of the man she loves whilst saying out loud she doesn't know how much longer they may be together.

"I'm just going to get Douglas." Caroline Dunbar's voice floats upstairs. Andrea immediately stands up; disturbing Neil who was sitting with his eyes closed blocking out everything else around him but Andrea, concentrating on her totally.

"Where are you going?" Neil asks, she's almost out the door.

"I'm going to get dad." There seems to be some urgency Neil isn't aware of.

"He'll be here soon." Neil points out.

"I have to go," Is all Andrea says and closes the door. The moments they just shared disappear like a mirage one gets too close to. Neil realises the comfort and the embraces were a brief deviation, nothing's changed, everything's still the same and for the first time he can see she's behaving exactly the way she feels. Her love for him has her coming to him but when it comes to their relationship for which it's important to keep a moment like the one they just had going, she stands and almost runs out because she thinks it's not working and won't last.

* * *


	23. Chapter 23

* * *

That night Neil goes over the file once more, it seems all so straight forward so much so he can't see how he may have been mislead by something. Andrea passes him occasionally, he's not sure exactly what she's doing…his thoughts are with tomorrow. He retires to bed early after saying goodnight; the emotional and mental gymnastics of the day have taken their toll. He sleeps peacefully and without disturbance until about midnight when he awakens gradually to a dark room. He rolled over to look at the clock on the opposite side of the bed, it's midnight but more importantly Andrea hasn't come to bed, her side is still made from this morning, as guests they'd been vigilant about doing it. He sits trying to wake up before he turns on the light and shocks his system; he also wonders if going in search of her is a good idea or if it'll lead to an argument and anger, he's hardly likely to go back to sleep after that.

In the end he doesn't have to go far, Neil finds her on the sofa still sitting up but asleep. In her lap lies the file he'd put together, her head has flopped to the side and she looks very uncomfortable, Neil is just glad she's fallen asleep accidentally and isn't avoiding him. He gently picks up the file, closing it and leaving it on the coffee table in front of the sofa, she stirs as he get her up onto her feet. Awake but drowsy he feels her place her arms around his neck as he carries her to the foot of the stairs.

"Where are we going?" She says sleepily.

"Up to bed," Neil says straining a little. "I can't carry you up the stairs."

Her feet hit the floor softly and she walks next to Neil with his arms around her to the bedroom. He pulls back the duvet and helps her in and tucks her in.

"Can I come with you tomorrow?" She asks, eyes closed as Neil kisses her forehead goodnight.

"Course you can." Neil says reassuringly, in the morning he will actively try to prevent that from happening, but for now they both need to sleep.

* * *

The first thing Neil notices is the light, the walls in all their beige glory might as well be giant mirrors. He shifts looking across to Andrea who sleeps on her back, hair sprayed across the pillow, one hand resting on the pillow up by her cheek. He closes his eyes for a few more minutes waiting till he wakes up completely and his surrounds seem less harsh. He moves slowly pushing back the covers and putting on the clothes he had on last night, as much as he wants to kiss Andrea good morning on the forehead like he did last night, he also doesn't want to disturb her, he needs to slip away this morning without her, despite words to the contrary last night. 

Downstairs Neil passes the clock that chimes on the hour, it's approaching it's indication of six in the morning.

"Morning," Neil says finding Caroline Dunbar sitting eating toast and sipping tea.

"Morning Neil, kettles just boiled." Caroline Dunbar says. Neil makes himself some coffee, getting milk but forgoing the sugar. Caroline smiles sympathetically at Neil who stirs his milk in. "Can I ask how it went yesterday evening?"

"One step forward, two steps back." Neil sighs, "I had to carry her to bed from the sofa last night where she'd fallen asleep reading the file."

"She didn't put up a fight?" Caroline says hopefully.

"No and she's still asleep now, she needs it." Neil sits at the table across from Andrea's mother who offers him a slice of the toast she hasn't yet touched.

"We find out today so I guess it means things might go back to normal or they might really blow up." Both hope it's the former not the later. "What are your plans for today?"

"I'm going out to the scene, I'm going to talk to Ross Napier and then I'm going back to see DS Kincade and hopefully find that Douglas had nothing to do with any of this." Neil explains his plans.

"Are you going to take Andrea with you?" It's exactly what Neil had wrestled with last night before going to sleep and this morning.

"She asked me last night and I said yes but I'm still debating if it's a good idea or not." Neil says honestly.

"She might drive you up the wall." Caroline Dunbar offers but Neil knows it would be continual conflict as opposed to annoying him.

"But staying here she'd be just as bad because she wouldn't know what's going on." Neil offers the other side of the argument and they both fall into silence, Neil puts jam on his toast and Caroline sips her tea.

"I don't suppose I could ask you a favour?" Neil says coming up with the best solution he can.

"Anything."

"Can you keep Andrea occupied today, keep her mind off things while I'm out and I'll call as soon as I know anything." With a yes all Neil will need to do is to sneak out of the house before Andrea wakes.

"We'll go into Edinburgh after I put her to work at the bookstore." Neil relaxes a bit as Caroline Dunbar seems to be happy to fill his request. He tries to enjoy his breakfast, feeling nervous about today's outcome suddenly as well, strangely or maybe not so, he feels there's a lot riding on today for him too, for his relationship with Andrea.

At seven she's still asleep, facing away from the light with the duvet pulled up high around her chin, it's an ideal position to lengthen her sleep in and Neil just hopes she stays that way. He sneaks around collecting what he needs for his shower and leaves the room again. He realises he'll have to wait when he hears the water running through the pipes to the bathroom off the master bedroom, to compete would mean a cold shower for both, downstairs he flicks through the paper as he waits, consuming another cup of coffee.

The steam billows out of the shower when Neil opens the door; he needs a shave and a shower to feel human in the morning. Again he creeps around the bedroom, his dirty clothes are piling up, he's not sure for how long he'll be here so he might have to ask for instructions on how to use the washing machine soon, or Caroline Dunbar might even do it for him.

Andrea hasn't moved since he was last in the room, dwarfed under the duvet he closes the door after him.

Downstairs he picks up the file, finds his wallet and the keys to the rental car on the hook where Douglas and Caroline leave theirs. The last thing he has to do is leave a note; he doesn't even consider leaving without explanation.

_You were asleep when I left around eight thirty, didn't want to wake you, you've been so tired lately I thought you needed it. I've gone to do a few things related to the case, I'll call you later. I love you. Neil._

Upstairs he eases himself to sit on the corner of the bed, Andrea has a hand outstretched across the empty side of the bed, he gently takes it in his, watching her sleep. A minute later he leaves his note on the pillow and shuts the door silently after him.

"Have you got a road map?" Neil asks Caroline downstairs, she's cleaning up from breakfast.

An old one comes out of a bottom drawer in the kitchen. "It's a bit out of date." She apologises.

That doesn't matter to Neil; the main roads won't have changed.

"Is Andrea still asleep?" Caroline asks starting to load the dishwasher.

Neil can't help but smile, "Yeah." She's so beautiful to him, especially when she's peacefully asleep.

"I've got to run Douglas to work soon; at least if she wakes up while I'm gone she can't go anywhere." Neil had realised that and was glad things had fallen into place the way they had. "Then I'll get her out of here and out of town."

"I really appreciate that." Neil looks up from the map; he's found where he's going.

"I'm more than happy to." Caroline Dunbar says genuinely. "You'd better go." She reminds him, its gone eight thirty and she'll need to head out soon as well.

Getting out of his chair, Neil pecks a kiss on Caroline Dunbar's cheek.

"My daughter's a very lucky woman to be loved by you." She says in reply.

"Thanks." Neil says, knowing he's feels immensely privileged to be loved by Andrea. As he heads outside to the car he considers the fact he hasn't seen Douglas this morning and wonders if he's having trouble getting himself out of bed today, more so than others.

In the car Neil turns his attention to getting to the accident scene.

* * *


	24. Chapter 24

* * *

It's quite obvious when Neil comes across the scene, at first he sees the paint, indicators of an incident that can be deciphered only by those in the police service, the skid marks are obvious next, a little further along the road, long tracks of rubber that barely deviate from their straight course. He pulls the car over safely on the side of the road and gets out; the report indicated the traffic along the road is mainly local so Neil spends his time in the middle of the road looking for something, anything that might have been missed. He checks the grass and tall weeds which cover the side of the road but there's nothing, any tiny bits of evidence from the impact on the road have either been swept up by the crash investigators for evidence or swept away to ensure the safety of the future road users. It's as Neil expected, too clean to give anything away.

On top of a rise in the distance off to the side of the road Neil can see Ross Napier's house, though it looks down over the road he wasn't lying when he told the police he never saw anything, he's too far away, headlights would be like tiny flashlights in the night from his place.

Neil planned to take the non-threatening approach and introduce himself as Andrea Dunbar's fiancée first, if it didn't get him though the door, DI Manson would and the fact he is trying to clear Douglas Dunbar's name.

Neil gets back in the car, continuing to scan the road and its sides for anything further, at twenty metre intervals he notices more tracks of tyre marks that appear to be the same age and width as those at the scene. He pulls over making a note of it in his file, they're not longer straight, curved and others have created circular patterns on the road, it looks like someone's been having fun.

Ross Napier's house comes closer as Neil negotiates an almost ninety degree bed, in the opposite direction a car springs from nowhere, flying past Neil travelling too quickly around the bend. He glares in his side mirror but the car is long gone and that's when Neil notices the new fence posts. He pulls the rental car well off the road so as not to be nearly side swiped again and gets out for a closer look.

Coming in the direction from Ross Napier's house the landscape and road dips sharply and then climbs again just as sharply. After coming over the rise the road then shifts to the right almost immediately in the ninety degree angle Neil just came around. In front of the point where the road starts to bend is a fence marking property boundaries, it looks to have been repaired just recently, it's newer than the rest of the fence.

Neil makes a note of that and intends to ask Ross Napier who owns the property, he draws a sketch of the road and makes a note of how the driver just then coming in the opposite direction to him nearly side swiped him. Neil's not sure what it all adds up to yet but it's something.

As it turns out Neil doesn't have to use his MET position, Ross Napier is happy to meet Neil, happy to talk and talk he does and happy to help Douglas Dunbar whom he feels guilty about putting in the positions he's in.

Retired Ross Napier has all day to talk and tells Neil things in fine detail whilst Neil drinks another two coffees for the day, he has to make an excuse to get out of the house, it's clear Ross Napier has not much to do and all day to do it in.

In the car, pulled over to the side of the road, Neil scribbles down what relevant information Ross Napier had given him. He was adamant Douglas Dunbar hadn't been drinking, Neil believed him but then he'd helped Douglas up the stairs after their night at Trattoria, Andrea had said it was extremely rare he drinks like that but Neil still puts a question mark next to the alcohol factor, both Andrea and Ross have something to gain from lying. It would be easier if the physical evidence proved Douglas Dunbar innocent.

Neil looks up the road to the rise to where the fence in question lies on the other side, Ross Napier had told him all about it. It is his property and the following morning after the hit and run Ross had noticed the fence had been knocked over by something, it wasn't that way the day before, though it was an inconvience he thought nothing more of it, it was too far from the scene of the accident to seem relevant, he assumed it was someone taken by surprise by the curve and had run off the road. It had happened before; Ross had replaced the fence many times. He certainly didn't associate it with the hit and run in anyway, nor did he tell the police or alert them to it.

Neil drives on getting out at the spot of the new fence again, there are no guard rails to keep an out of control car on the road, there's no need, the paddock is just grass and the road is mostly locals who are supposed to know the road. Sheepishly Ross Napier admitted he'd almost hit the fence himself, once before on an early fog choked morning. At the fence line Neil can see the tyre marks where someone has tried to pull up, the grass has been ripped from the ground and only mud is left. Neil crouches down finding exactly what he thought he might – shards of broken plastic and glass. Carefully he collects a small sample and puts it in his pocket, it'll be covered in his fingerprints but that's not what he wants them to be tested for. Back in the car he quickly sketches out the road and the scene, wishing he had a camera with him.

When his phone starts singing he checks the time before answering the call from a number he doesn't recognise, it's local meaning it could be DS Kincade with the results from Douglas' vehicle. It's nearly midday – travelling out here, an hour and a half spent with Ross Napier and much more spent inspecting the crime scene and alternate scene have eaten up his morning. But it's all been worth it, despite lacking experience in forensics and traffic incidents he thinks he knows what happened that Sunday night.

"Hello." Neil says watching a car zip past him, it seems speeding is the norm out here.

"Oh Neil, the police just called Andrea's mobile, they're finished with the car." Caroline Dunbar seems out of breath, almost panicked but Neil can't imagine why unless she's been told bad news.

"Where are you?" Neil looks at the clock again trying to estimate how long it will take to get to the station.

"Still at the bookstore."

"Is Andrea going down there?" Neil opens the street directory looking for the fastest way to get to his next location.

"She doesn't know, they called her mobile a minute ago and I have her out getting coffee." It explains the panic and urgency, she's afraid Andrea will come back in the middle of the call.

"I'll call the station, tell them I'm coming and not to call again, are you still right to keep Andrea busy?" Neil needs the answer to the last question to be yes or things will become difficult.

"Yes, we're about to go to Edinburgh." Incidental sounds of the business float down the phone line.

"Good, what's the phone number there?" Neil scribbles down the number of the station as Caroline Dunbar recites it. "Clear the call record in Andrea's phone will you and I'll see you both when I get back this evening, it'll be fine."

"Neil." Caroline says hesitantly. "She's angry you left without her this morning in spite of the note."

"I expected that." Neil sighs. "She'll soon forget it when I prove her father had nothing to do with the hit and run."

"What?" Caroline Dunbar says amazed and pleased.

"I'll tell you this evening, I've got to go, bye." Neil rushes, not waiting to receive a parting greeting. All he has is a hunch right now; he needs proof before he tells anyone.

Before he drives on, Neil speaks to the SRO who sounds just as hassled as she did the other day, Neil just hopes the message he's coming gets to DS Kincade.

* * *

When Neil pulls up outside of the station, DS Kincade is sitting on a raised garden ledge smoking. Neil watches her for a minute; he's attuned to the type of stress that characterises her rigid posture, the type that comes from getting pressure from above and having no solid leads. Cutting across the front of the station Neil watches her as she extinguishes one cigarette and lights another. 

"That's some very un-DS like behaviour." Neil says lightly and Fiona Kincade looks up at him not laughing.

"Well if you knew what was going on you'd understand why." She says cryptically.

"Are you working this alone?" Neil asks and sits down next to her.

"Just me, myself and I, are you going to tell me you'd go easier on me because if you do I might just come and work for you?" Fiona Kincade takes a long drag.

"Not a chance but you wouldn't be working alone." Neil tells her.

"Budgets, everyone wants more for less." She takes another puff and Neil says nothing, really they're on different sides of the fence, they could argue all day. You'd better come inside." The half smoked cigarette is extinguished under her foot like the last.

There's less cloak and dagger this time, Fiona Kincade leads Neil through the maze of her workplace to a room much more frequently used that the one he sat in the first time he was here. Her casual look at the scraps of paper in Neil's hand become more obvious the more times she looks, she has everything she needs already in the room.

Fiona Kincade pushes a cream coloured folder in front of him but doesn't relinquish her hold, after a moment of contemplation she pulls it back. "We found no blood, hair, skin or fibres on the car. Obviously Mr. Dunbar had driven it to London and back but as far as we can tell it hadn't been washed clean, so even with the distance travelled we'd expect to find some residue."

For the first time in days Neil has good news to smile about and the relief will come in a minute. "The car never left the front of my flat when it was in London and it didn't rain." He offers.

"Sometimes if the victim rolls over the vehicle there might be indents but we found none of those and we've determined the damage to the front does not match that of hitting a human body, Mr. Dunbar has hit something harder, something that provided some resistance." The smile spreads wider on Neil's face, not only is it great news and puts Andrea's father in the clear, it seems to confirm his suspicions of what really went on that night.

"The glass and plastic was a type match but the pieces didn't fit the vehicle so we now know Mr. Dunbar wasn't responsible." DS Kincade doesn't share Neil's enthusiasm. All the emotion, anger and arguments that seemed to be chained to him are released, the proverbial weight lifted. He indulges in a flash of Andrea embracing him to say thank you, getting her back to London and getting them back on track.

"That's great news."

"For you, but I'm back to no leads, no suspects." Fiona Kincade pushes the folder with the forensic report across to Neil.

He looks down at the paper he's sketched and scribbled notes on. "I think I know what happened, want to take a drive out there?" Neil questions.

"Might as well, I'm no good around here." DS Kincade says and leads Neil out to the back lot and into a station pool car.

"I suppose you'll head back to the excitement of the MET now." Fiona Kincade says once they're a few blocks away from the station.

"I have another couple of days; I think I'll put my feet up." Neil says though he plans to get home as soon as possible. Fiona Kincade leaves it at that but Neil wonders if the question was a lead in to another to ask for help.

* * *

At the scene of the hit and run DS Kincade confirms where the body was found. Neil casts his eyes over the tyre marks which until recently it had been assumed were made by Douglas Dunbar, who on the wrong side of the road for some reason tried to stop before hitting the teenager. Neil suspects they were made by a car heading in the opposite direction on the correct side of the road. 

Up the road he stops off at each patch of tyre marks, Fiona Kincade takes some crude measurements not knowing they were there until now. At the sharp curve in the road and the steep incline Neil shows the DS the nature of the road and the new fence posts, he recounts Ross Napier's story and puts forward what he thinks happened on the Sunday night. A car travels too quickly past them as Neil finishes as if to prove his point.

From his pocket Neil holds out the broken and shattered glass and plastic he'd collected from the ground. Neil watches her looking at his hand but then to his dismay she heads back to the car. He drops the evidence back in his pocket not knowing what to do now.

"I've got someone coming out the collect the evidence, I'll run it if you don't mind going without the car for another 24 hours." Relieved Neil turns to her.

"No not at all, anything to clear his name."

"Did you make notes?" DS Kincade points to the paper still in Neil's hands.

"Yeah," He holds the paper up for a minute.

"Do you mind if we head back and made them official?"

"Not at all," Neil says heading back towards the car.

"You must be the only DI in the entire UK who hasn't lost touch." Fiona Kincade says as they head back but Neil's not sure that's true. It'd been a while since he'd done investigative work before now and he'd remembered he enjoyed it. That would all change when he got back, budgets, statistics and reports would take over. He had people like DS Kincade to do the policing for him.

"What will you do next?" Neil asks once the basic notes have been made official, Fiona Kincade's CID is quiet and there are no senior officers in sight.

"I'll keep investigating into the locals on that road, dig into them more and this teenager who's now dead. I'll run an appeal." Fiona Kincade sighs, she knows what's ahead of her is just hard work with little likelihood of a result.

"I'm planning to head home Friday but I'd like to help if I can." Neil offers.

"I won't turn you down on that." DS Kincade says gratefully. "I appreciate it."

* * *

"Are you feeling alright?" Caroline Dunbar asks her daughter on the way back from Edinburgh. She had managed to keep her daughter occupied for almost four hours with shopping, food and bookstore business. She only hoped it gave Neil enough time. 

"I'm fine. Did anyone call for me today?" Andrea says, it's a lie her nausea is worse than all the other days before. She checks her mobile for the second time that trip; she knows someone should have called about the car by now.

"No, don't worry about it; I'm sure it will be fine. Things will work themselves out." Caroline Dunbar says cheerfully, something Andrea can't understand.

"Mum, do you realise what is or could happen to dad?" Caroline Dunbar wasn't expecting Andrea to be quite so abrupt.

"Of course I do, I'm not some self involved air headed bimbo." She defends. "I choose not to dwell on the bad things and I choose not to blame your father or take anything out on him." She hopes a part of her sentences will speak to Andrea about how she's been with Neil. "I took an oath – till death do us part that I will uphold and I know your father will support me in whatever shape or form that takes as I will support him through this, I love your father."

Andrea is silent for a long time after apologising.

* * *


	25. Chapter 25

* * *

It's almost six when Neil arrives back at Andrea's parents house, despite the fact he's tired from being up for almost twelve hours his timing is good, everyone will be home now.

As soon as he gets out of the car, Andrea hurries out the front door, she'd obviously been waiting for him. "Where's the car?" She asks in a panic.

Neil doesn't answer till the car is locked and he's standing in front of her at the front of the rental car. "Its o.k., come inside and I'll tell everyone." Neil guides her towards the door again but she walks on quickly ahead of him not waiting.

Neil finds everyone in the kitchen, standing around nervously they are at a loss for anything to do.

"We should sit down." Neil says hesitantly, he finds the situation uncomfortable. In the living room Caroline and Douglas Dunbar sit on the sofa opposite Neil, Andrea stands behind them. Not intentionally, Neil prolongs the silence, trying to work out where to start, Andrea stares across at him, there's no denying she's panicking now, they all are, they've noticed the car's not back. Andrea looks as though she's going to cross the room begging Neil to tell them all if he doesn't start soon.

"The police no longer consider you to be a person of interest, they don't think you had anything to do with the hit and run." Caroline Dunbar chokes on a sob as she embraces her husband who still looks shocked. Neil looks to Andrea; she's not smiling or celebrating, staring, miles away. He'd hoped for a more affectionate reaction, even if it wasn't directed at him. Still he realises she may need time to process it all.

Neil explains once the questions of how and what happened today come, he explains the lack of physical and matching evidence on the car. "I think I know what happened that night, I've asked them to keep the car to test it against the new physical evidence I found to completely exonerate you." Neil looks up at Andrea, she's still staring.

"What happened?" Douglas Dunbar asks hesitantly and Neil looks to all three before opening his scribbled notes in the file he made.

He explains the incidences of tyre marks on the road heading towards Ross Napier's place, their intervals and the fact speeding appears to be common on the stretch of road. "It was assumed from the beginning you had crossed onto the wrong side of the road for whatever reasons, broke heavily when you saw the teenager which resulted in the tyre marks but hit him accidentally anyway." Neil pauses. "I think the person responsible was coming from the opposite direction, heading towards Ross Napier's place." He waits another moment. "The regular intervals of the tyre marks suggest to me someone was out there Sunday night having some fun with their rubber, it's quiet and only local traffic travels that piece of road so it's unlikely they'd be caught by the police, given the rate at which people drive along that road they were probably speeding as well. So they speed up then lock up the brakes, decorating the road at regular intervals, they may be a local who went home after having fun and then had to go back to town for some reason, on the way back home they did it again." Neil lets the information absorb. "I suspect the victim came into the path of the headlights, the car was travelling too quickly to stop or swerve, the victim hits the car, or he might not have been seen at all. They slam on the brakes; I considered that the tyres might be bald or un-roadworthy by now or in the beginning. That created a rubber deposit in front of where the police found the victim, the driver gets out of the car, sees it's a person, panics and flees. Either way it wasn't you, the evidence proved it." Caroline Dunbar embraces her husband again, tears of relief in her eyes. But there's something else Douglas needs to know, that which has been weighing on his mind, which has been a burden, on Andrea too.

"So where was I?"

"You were in the right place at the right time. I think you passed the guilty person or persons in their car and they caused you to have an accident." Neil opens his file pulling out his diagram, sliding it in front of Douglas Dunbar who leans forward to see it better. "You recognise that piece of road?" Neil asks and looks up at Andrea who's looking over her fathers shoulder.

"It's a bastard piece of road, only one sign to warn of the curve as you come up the rise." Douglas looks at Neil.

"Exactly and the road was a contributing factor. I spoke at length with Ross Napier who told me he's had to fix his fence." Neil points to it on the map. "At least six times in the last twelve months because people run their cars into it as a result of that curve, including the night of the accident," Neil can see Douglas searching for memories. "In a panic and fleeing the hit and run scene the car coming in the opposite direction to you and too quickly may have crossed to the wrong side of the road due to it's speed, either way you coming over the rise were probably blinded by their headlights or swerved to get out of their way or both. They continued on, now more shaken because of the near miss, you and your car out of control end up hitting the fence posts and finish up in the paddock. There are tyre marks on the grass about the width of yours, I'm having tests conducted on the glass and plastic shards collected from the scene and by tomorrow we should know they match."

"So why don't I remember any of this?" With the explanation he looks anything but relieved.

"The most likely scenario is you suffered a minor head injury in the accident, you probably hit your head on the steering wheel, no blood but you were unconscious for a while, when you woke up you probably drove home still in shock and blocking out the events was your body's way of coping. I doubt seriously there is any medical reason for your memory condition." Douglas Dunbar stares at Neil's sketch.

"That would mean I probably drove past that boy on the side of the road." Father now resembles daughter, a million miles away in haunting thoughts.

"You would have but you would never have seen him, you were too traumatised, you're just lucky you drove home without another incident." Neil reassures him.

"I had a blinding headache Monday morning and a lump on my head. I remember telling Caroline I'd fallen off a chair at Ross' but I couldn't remember. When I went to the car to go to work I saw the damage but had no idea how it got there." That much of his memory still works. "I still have no recollection of any of this you've said."

"You were lucky, with a head injury and shock you should have gone to the hospital." Neil adds but doesn't want to upset anyone further.

Douglas nods.

"You have your answers now." Neil says softly and Caroline Dunbar stands up and pulls Neil into her arms. Over her shoulder Neil watches Andrea, she crosses her arms because her hands are shaking and tears are springing into her eyes. Douglas stands blocking Neil's view of Andrea and shakes his hand; it's a distracted shake as Neil watches Andrea walk hastily out of the room.

"Excuse me." Neil says, he doesn't need to explain why and he knows where she's gone. He so badly wants a good reaction right now, to pick her up and carry her out of here, in a flood of emotion to apologise for everything and in the same breath forgive her.

She's willing her hands to stop shaking, holding them in fists where she stands in the middle of the kitchen. When she looks up their eyes lock and remain, Neil waits for her to say something; he needs some indication of the way she feels.

"I don't know what to say." She cries as if it's important, it's the sentiment behind the words that matter.

"I thought maybe 'I told you so' might be first." Instantly he regrets it but it seems to just wash over her, Neil steps closer.

"I don't know why I'm shaking or crying and I feel nauseous of course." She says through tears.

"It's just the shock that it's all over, good shock." She allows Neil to take her hands in his; he slowly takes the next step, pulling her into him.

"Thank you for what you did." Andrea says shifting her arms around him; it's what he's wanted, what he needs.

"Didn't do anything," Neil relaxes planting a kiss on her hair. "The evidence spoke for itself."

"Still..." Andrea says in a tiny voice showing no urgency to pull away.

When she does, she sticks close and Neil makes what would not usually be a bold move, but in the context of how they've been lately it is. She meets him briefly, their lips caress one another before both pull back. Neil goes back again; it's the same gentle kiss again only it lasts longer.

"So what now?" Neil asks generally, he looks down at Andrea's hands, she's stopped shaking.

"I don't know." She looks up from him from her hands.

"You don't know us or you don't know your father?" Neil mentally kicks himself for the suicidal question.

"Dad is a mess…" She offers Neil the fractured sentence. "I need to talk to him."

"Just promise me you won't make a decision when you go back out there, one the spot without thinking about it." Andrea answers his request with a nod. "Go hug your dad."

* * *

"Did you hog the bathroom when you lived here?" Neil asks, towel drying his hair as he comes to the bedroom from having his shower. 

"Probably but with two brothers it didn't really matter, they were always smelly anyway." Neil laughs at the comment as Andrea turns back the bed. Neil tosses the days dirty clothes on the growing pile as Andrea makes herself comfortable, when he's dressed for bed she's having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

She doesn't move when he sits on the bed next to her, nor do her eyes open when he lovingly and gently caresses her face. A soft sound of approval comes off the back of her throat eventually and Neil stills. "Are you not coming to bed?"

"Yeah in a minute," Neil whispers. "I'm going to help DS Kincade tomorrow but I'd like to be home for Jake on the weekend."

"Of course, you should be." She mumbles lethargically.

"How do you feel?"

"O.k. better, like something enormous has lifted from me." Neil feels the same; his was a dark cloud hanging over them all.

"Jake would love to see you this weekend." Neil tries a type of bribe, continuing to trace gentle tracks over her face.

"Mmm-Hmm," Comes the non-committal reply.

"You going to stay a while?" He asks making sure he in no way indicates he wishes she wouldn't.

"For a while," She says barely and Neil decides to leave it at that, he can do his convincing in the morning.

Not long after he's gotten into bed himself Andrea reaches behind her encouraging him closer. Neil happily obliges.

* * *


	26. Chapter 26

* * *

Neil wakes the next morning to something that's been rare in the past fortnight, a warm body beside his. He neither opens his eyes nor dwells on it in case it's a beautiful and at the same time cruel dream. He falls asleep again before he dares to check if Andrea is real or not.

When he reawakens Andrea is inching away from him, shifting lethargically with her still half asleep body. "Hey where are you going?"

"Thought you were asleep, sorry," Neil hadn't dared hoped that would be her response.

"Are you nauseous?" He asks watching her lie back down on her back.

"No, I was just getting up." Andrea says simply.

"I have to ring this morning and book some flights." Neil subtly uses the plural.

"I think I'm going to stay on for a while." She at least can look across at him.

"What's a while?" Neil asks, it takes him back to Monday of last week, of asking the same question of her fathers stay and then later in the week and nastier, how long did she need before she would find out what was going on with her father.

"I don't know." Not the answer Neil wanted.

"Jake will be disappointed you're not there." Neil tries the approach again being subtle.

"I know but dad's a guilty mess, I need to stay on." She's firm but not rude.

Neil shifts closer taking a hand of hers in his. "Please come home Andrea we can put all of this behind us."

"That's exactly our problem, we're good at that, too good." Neil doesn't deny it's true. With the poor choice of words he feels things disintegrate, "I just need to think." She rolls onto her side to look directly at Neil.

"I'll be waiting with open arms to welcome you back." As if to accept his point she slides herself into his hold.

He doesn't remember dozing off again, and wakes to Andrea tying to wake him. "We need to get up Neil." He hears just barely, squinting he watches her get out of bed and dress; eventually he manages to find the motivation to do the same.

It continues into breakfast, a gentle touch here and there, a long look, even one flirty comment. She eats voraciously, finishing off the toast he has no room for but switches to tea from coffee.

"Has dad gone to work already?" Andrea asks between mouthfuls, Caroline Dunbar lifts her head slowly and Neil senses something's not right.

"He's still in bed, he won't get out, and I had to call in sick for him."

"He feels guilty." Neil offers and Caroline nods in confirmation, Neil's correct. This only makes Neil feels nervous that Andrea will fall straight back into her same ways from last week.

"Andrea." She immediately looks over to Neil. "Take him today to pay his respects."

Before she leaves the table she kisses his forehead. "Thanks."

For the rest of breakfast Caroline Dunbar doesn't mention the new life in Andrea towards Neil.

Neil waits for a half an hour on the phone after breakfast for a seat on a flight home the following morning. Caroline has cleared up and gone, Andrea who comes in dressed for the day is a welcome distraction. "Do you want a window or aisle seat tomorrow?"

"I'm staying on." She reminds him as she pulls up a chair next to him. Neil wasn't convinced he could trick her into coming home anyway.

"When then I'll book a flight now for you, save another half hour phone call." He grumbles at the length of time he's had to wait.

"Neil." She says with a short sigh.

"Please come home for you and me and Jake." Neil requests putting the phone down on the table and looking her right in the eye. "What are you going to do about work?"

Her only answer is to kiss him sweetly on the lips and to leave the room.

Neil picks up the phone and goes back to the joys of listening to advertisements, product theme songs and tinny elevator music. Caroline is not her usual perky self this morning, added to the fact she looks tired.

"It's not his fault Caroline."

"Try telling him that, he's where Andrea gets it from." Neil only nods in agreeance. "Who are you on hold with?"

"Airlines, you have to queue before you get to the airport." Neil muses.

"When for?"

"Tomorrow."

"Hope you've got deep pockets then." Caroline Dunbar points out such a late reservation will cost him.

"I don't want to miss out on Jake this weekend." Neil explains his major motivation.

"Let me know what time, I'll drive you there, wouldn't want you to miss it." From the singular way she's speaking Neil assumes Andrea's mother knows of her daughters plans to stay on.

"Yes I'm here." Neil says when his call is suddenly and finally picked up. He mouths thanks to Caroline who leaves him with the misery of his expensive flight.

* * *

"I fly out at eight in the morning." Neil tells Andrea whom he finds doing her hair in the bathroom. 

"Should give you plenty of time before picking up Jake," Andrea says with a mouthful of hair pins. Provided that is, this flight isn't delayed also.

"You sure you won't change your mind and come?" Neil asks looking at Andrea in the mirror; she looks back at him, eyes pleading him to understand. "I'm off to go and help with this case, I'll see you tonight." Neil waits for her to say something; she doesn't though her eyes remain with his. "Take your dad to the grave site won't you, it'll help." Andrea nods with the wide eyed look she gets.

"Neil." She calls after him when he's almost to the top of the stairs. She looks out the bathroom door to see if he'd heard her first and then walks up to him, hugging him tightly and kissing him on the side of his face. "Thank you." She says in his ear.

"It's o.k." He breathes in through her hair. When he lets go he says he'll see her tonight before heading down the stairs.

* * *


	27. Chapter 27

* * *

"I'd like to see DS Kincade thanks." Neil curtly asks the PC who is manning the reception area.

"She's not in yet sir." It immediately strikes Neil as strange, he looks to his watch, it's gone nine. "Would you like to leave a message?"

Neil considers sliding his identification across the desk and leaving his phone number but it would only cause questions. "I'll come back." Neil says absently and steps away, he wonders what's going on, if something's wrong, if there is it's unlikely it would be announced to him. He wonders if it's a usual occurrence, it frustrates him he has no other means of making contact.

At a loss for what to do now he heads back to the car, to join Andrea and her father seems the next most logical thing to do. A car pulls up to the curb just up from the station, he looks but doesn't recognise the occupants, he does the one sitting in the next car down smoking though.

She sees him approach but doesn't show it, exhaling from her last puff, a few more and she won't be able to see out the windscreen for the haze that hangs. Neil opens the passenger front door and slides in, unaccustomed to such an environment he feels his chest restrict and breathing becomes harder, he leaves the door open hoping the air will clear.

"I was just inside; they said you hadn't arrived yet." Neil says looking out of the front of the car.

"I'm surprised they noticed." She says with an edge, that of someone who's disillusioned.

"I thought I might be able to help." Neil offers.

"Help," She says ironically. "This case is a hundred rolling fields in the pitch black and me with a torch looking for something, anything, evidence that doesn't exist, witnesses that don't exist, you…you make two torches."

Neil has no come back for that, it's true but he doesn't think it will help to say it.

"He was fifteen Neil, good grades in school; he was walking home from a mates place." She pauses taking another drag of her cigarette. "He didn't deserve it; he's his parents only child, everyone speaks so highly of him, his personality and character, his spirit, his generosity." She rolls down her window.

"No one deserves it, not matter who they are and there's always the grieving family left behind." Neil deliberately tries to sound distant because it's becoming clear to him DS Kincade is too close to this case.

"I've eaten eighteen meals at the family's place since I took up this case almost three weeks ago, one a day, sometimes two. I've clocked up seven days at the house if you count the odd hours here and there that I've spent. I went to the funeral, burial, the wake; I've met every family member and friend from here to the other side of the world. I slept on the sofa one night; I've worked the case from there some days. I've turned the kid's room upside down and waded myself through his life, I've had more people cry on my shoulder and cling to me for support than ever before, they looked at me in hope each day I came around that I'd found some new evidence, some string to pull, some of me died inside because I had nothing, no hope to give them."

"You shouldn't have to do all that Fiona, that's the FLO's job." Neil says quietly, only to be met with an astounded laugh.

"There's no FLO, I'm it. No one wants this case, they knew there would never be a result, the irony is that's only made me more driven and determined to get something." She extinguishes the last of her cigarette; she fidgets without another in her hands.

"I'm the only female on that team, so I have to work twice as hard. I get all the emotional cases with the distraught families because I'm a woman. I'm apparently equipped for these types of cases but here I am chain smoking and not sleeping. They're all the cases you never get a result on, so on paper I look like a poor officer."

"Yet you're working twice as hard as everyone else." Neil offers.

Fiona Kincade lights another cigarette. "I only started smoking when I started this job, I was an unpopular choice for CID but the Superintendent believed in me and overruled, CID wanted a male colleague of mine and everyday they remind me. I'm the first one in, the last one out, I eat at my desk, and I don't take two hours in the middle of the day for my personal errands." Neil suspects he knows who that's in reference to. "But everyday it's the jokes the derogatory comments. I probably wasn't picked on merit; I'm a pathetic attempt to balance things. I suppose the upside is because they don't care they let me have a long leash, which is why I can work a case the way I do."

"Sounds like your department needs an overhaul," Neil offers uncomfortably.

"It's the senior ranks that need an overhaul, no offence." Fiona Kincade offers her opinion.

"I've seen coppers in your position before, you're too close Fiona, you need to step back or this could ruin you and I don't mean just professionally." Neil offers his advice.

"And you weren't too close?" She throws back, there's no nastiness, she just thinks he doesn't realise.

"My situation is not as emotional as yours, Douglas Dunbar didn't need me to give him hope, he wasn't relying on me for something, and he didn't need to lean on me." Neil offers though to a certain extent that's untrue. "If it was my son and you did what you've done here, I'd be eternally grateful."

"If I don't care no one will." Fiona offers and Neil believes her.

"You're a good copper from what I've seen DS Kincade…you made DS." Neil starts but is interrupted.

"Another political manoeuvre," She says cynically.

"If you're ever down south you should come and see me at Sun Hill." Fiona Kincade extinguishes her half smoked cigarette. "Let's go inside and see what we can do for this boy's family. We might just bump into something in that field."

* * *

Douglas Dunbar had been reluctant to come with Andrea, he'd withdrawn, his joyful personality locked up by a more depressed one. Despite his name being cleared he feels no less responsible. They drive in silence to the cemetery, Andrea's not really sure what to say, there's probably nothing she can, just be there for him. 

For a moment she flashes to the fact Neil had said he thought his actions were what would be best help for her, the shoe is on the other foot now.

After receiving directions, they head through the neatly plotted headstones looking for that of the fifteen year old victim. Douglas holds back, he seems hesitant, almost afraid to be here.

The burial site of the teenager becomes quite obvious as Andrea approaches, she slows out of respect as she takes in the scores of bunches of flowers, cards and the occasional stuffed toy. School mates and friends alike have written poems, remembrances and well wishes for the next life.

Slowly Andrea places her bouquet on the overflowing spot and steps respectfully back.

She watches her father place his flowers next to hers, his walk seems to be slowed today or it may just be as a result of the way he's feeling. His hands shake, the paper around the flowers crinkling as a result. Andrea takes his arm as he steps back, he's solemn and she catches him in a quick prayer, she hasn't seen him do that since she was a child. She had hoped this might help, as Neil had suggested it would though she didn't expect instant results.

When he's done paying his silent respects, Douglas pats his daughter's arm that's looped in his. As they head back to the car, the slight drizzle mirroring the mood, Douglas speaks for the first time.

"I'm going to hand my license in." He's clear and definitive about the point, there's none of the emotion that she saw as they approached and paid their respects at the grave.

"Oh dad, why?" Andrea stops, arm still linked to her father's as well.

"I drove straight past that boy Andrea; if I'd have stopped he might be alive today." Douglas reasons.

"Dad you heard Neil, you were in shock, you had a minor head injury, your accident wasn't your fault, you shouldn't have been driving." Instantly Andrea realises her father will use her last words to further his point.

"Exactly, this way I won't be a danger to anyone else." He reasons.

"How are you going to get to work, how are you going to get to Ross Napier's on a Sunday night?" Andrea argues.

"I'll never drive that road again." Douglas says quietly.

"Please dad, don't decide this now, there's no reason for you to do this, your memory loss and shock was as a result of an accident you didn't cause. It won't affect your driving in the future." Andrea pleads. "You're not responsible for that teenager's death." It's then Andrea realises only time will change her father, no amount of pleading and reassurances will make a difference.

Douglas starts to walk on, Andrea lets her arm slide out of his, she remains where she is watching his slightly hunched body head back to the car.

She wonders if maybe he needs to hear it from the family of the victim, though that would be messily emotional and he was not so long ago a suspect, it could make things worse. All Andrea knows is she wants her larger than life father back.

"Dad," Andrea calls jogging to catch up with her father, he stops and turns around. She grips his upper arms while she makes her point. "You're a good man dad, more than that, you serve Christmas dinner to those who don't have a family to go to, you rescue people walking through the snow, you send flowers off to the hospital, and you coach football for boys no one else bothers with. You raised me and my brothers wonderfully, you looked after us, you love us, support us. You can't save the world dad, you can't do those things for everyone, you can't keep everyone safe, not even Neil and I can and that's our job." Andrea says looking for a change in her father. "You've done your bit, that night it was someone else's turn and that someone should have been the guilty party."

"I know that." He protests weakly.

"You hand in your license and you'll take part responsibility for something you had nothing to do with." Andrea shakes him a little. "Do you think the family of the dead teenager left behind will feel any better if you do this, it certainly won't bring him back, and do you think they'd want you to do this? You're a victim of the guilty person as well, only I didn't lose you. You're volunteering a piece of you, those responsible are still out there, free and you're cutting yourself down, you feel responsible, guilty." Andrea puts her arms totally around her father and pulls him close.

"I'm sorry." Her father says, holding Andrea tightly.

"What for?" Andrea says letting a smile come to her face.

"Everything," Douglas Dunbar says generally, "For coming to you, making you worry, causing you and Neil to fight."

"I understand dad, its o.k." Andrea says pulling herself away. "Neil understands. Our problems are our own; they don't have anything to do with you." Andrea forgives but Neil's words about the reasons for their fighting echo in her mind. "Drive me home?" Andrea asks putting her arm around her father's waist; they walk that way back to the car.

"I'm going to stay a while." Andrea says in the car on the way back home, her father's eyes don't leave the road, his large hand reaching across and pats the top of Andrea's. She takes that as meaning he's happy about that fact.

* * *

Caroline Dunbar looks with concern at her husband as he walks past her to the study without acknowledgment. Andrea stands in the front doorway, watching her father disappear, Caroline looks back to her daughter. 

"I don't know how successful I was." Andrea informs her mother, closing the front door.

"I should go see if he's alright." Clearly Caroline is concerned, it's obvious from her voice.

"No mum, he needs to be left alone now, he'll come out when he's ready." Andrea stops her mother.

Caroline Dunbar fidgets, "Right." She needs something to do, something to keep her mind off wanting to go to her husband. "Well I'll make you something to eat." Before Andrea can protest, her mother's gone. Andrea follows her.

In the kitchen she fumbles with items in the fridge, the butter falling to the floor, Andrea moves to help her but her mother indicates she doesn't need it. "So you and Neil seem to be getting along better."

"Mmm-hmm we are." Andrea says and immediately her mother looks over at her, the affirmative answer was entirely unconvincing leading Caroline to believe her daughter is lying or there's something she's not telling her.

"So what time is your flight in the morning?" Caroline asks conversationally, it's then Andrea realises her mother doesn't know about her plans, she tells herself she's yet to have the opportunity to tell her mother, it seems there's no reason why she would withhold that information.

"Neil's flight is at eight tomorrow morning." Andrea pauses and her mother stops what she's doing and looks at Andrea. "I planned to stay a while longer." She says and it's then Andrea gets an answer for why she may have subconsciously avoided telling her mother, her look expresses the fact she has no idea of the motivations behind her daughters decision, it seems extremely odd to her that Andrea isn't going with Neil. "If that's o.k. with you and dad," Andrea adds as a result of the look.

"Of course, it's been lovely to have you around." Her mother compensates for the look.

* * *


	28. Chapter 28

* * *

Neil looks up when Andrea comes back from her shower, hair slightly damp, the gentle scent of soap wafting past him. "How was your day?" She asks and Neil immediately turns to look at her, trying not to appear surprised. He'd gotten back from the station just as everyone was sitting down to eat, it had been quiet but not uncomfortably quiet, the car was ready to be picked up tomorrow and everyone seemed depressed, no one felt like starting a conversation.

Knowing he was going home tomorrow, Neil had set out to wash his clothes and part of the way through trying to work out the machine that was a bit more complex than the one Andrea has Caroline Dunbar took over, swearing him to secrecy.

Andrea had sat in the living room watching TV with her parents, Neil had joined them briefly but was conscious of the fact he had to leave early in the morning and needed to shower. This was the first opportunity they really had to talk, let alone in private, but it's the fact Andrea wants to talk that he's pleasantly surprised by.

"I spent the morning going back over the case with Fiona Kincade, re-interviewing people, we filmed the appeal in the afternoon but we've got nothing but crank calls and misguided leads." Neil explains, he too now sounds depressed.

"Does the family know?" Andrea asks quietly.

"That was the last thing we did before coming home." Neil answers equally as quietly. "We told them we thought there'd be more and better information to come in the morning but just from the look on their faces we could tell they're losing hope, they have few things left to cling to."

Andrea looks away.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone as disillusioned with their work as Fiona Kincade is and at the same time she's working so selflessly hard at it." Neil doesn't need to be reminded that usually he wouldn't care about a situation like this. "She has no support in her office from her colleagues, they don't want her there, I saw that first hand today, she gets the cases there's no chance of getting a result on yet she drowns herself in them. She doesn't sleep or eat, she smokes like a chimney, and she told me her partner left her…" Neil trails off.

"It's not your problem Neil." Andrea says firmly and compassionately. Its shades of what she had said to her father today, Neil notices the care and concern the comes from Andrea, he hadn't seen it since this all started.

"I know it's just that's what the job can do to your life." Neil brushes off. "How's your dad?"

"I don't know." Andrea sighs helplessly. "I tried to talk him around today…I think it helped a little."

"He'll come around, it'll just take time." Neil says looking back to Andrea.

"You can't change my mind Neil; I want to be here for dad as much as you want to be there for Jake this weekend." Andrea explains.

Neil nods and goes back to haphazardly folding his clothes that are fresh from the tumble dryer, it doesn't matter about the creases, they're full of them already.

"You going to bed already?" He asks a few minutes later when he hears the bed being turned down.

"If I don't I won't be up in the morning." She yawns making reference to Neil's flight.

"I still have to pack."

"You won't disturb me." Andrea says turning onto her side away from the light on the bedside table. Neil continues to fold his clothes and then opens his suitcase, rearranging a few things to make room that doesn't really exist. In the side pocket the engagement ring he bought with him pokes out, he unzips the pocket, clenching the box in the palm of his hand. Looking over his shoulder to Andrea he smiles and puts the box in his pocket.

"I'm nearly done." He says quietly and shuts the door behind him, heading downstairs, there's one more thing he needs to do before he goes home, something he's been planning to do for more than a week now.

* * *

Caroline Dunbar sits slightly against her husband, the only illumination comes from the TV which flickers different colours across their faces with the changing picture. Neil stops for a minute, gathering his courage; Caroline Dunbar senses his presence and looks to Neil over the back of the sofa. 

"We thought you'd gone to bed." She smiles, sitting up.

"I was packing and I remembered there was something important I wanted to ask before I go." The TV is switched onto mute and Neil slowly lets himself into the sofa opposite him, nervous he decides he should be standing and does so quickly. The entire attention of Douglas and Caroline hasn't made him nervous until now.

"I've been planning for a few months now…" He starts and fades. "And well I always wanted to do it properly but I didn't really have the opportunity and since I've met you…I figured now everything is over it's the right time." Get to the point Neil, he tells himself, he pauses and then sighs happily. "I'm in love with Andrea…I love Andrea, your daughter."

"We know." Caroline says genuinely, her smile puts Neil at ease. Douglas is watching with interest, Neil doesn't expect him to smile. He does make sure he looks at Douglas because traditionally…

"I'd like to ask for Andrea's hand in marriage, with your blessing I'd like to propose." It's said quietly and with only a little confidence but not apprehensively, characteristic of Neil he drops his eyes to the floor.

Douglas Dunbar instantly gets out of the sofa and embraces Neil who feels engulfed, Neil relaxes with the approval. He looks to Caroline who has tears in her eyes…when Douglas lets Neil go she takes him into her arms telling him through tears she's very happy.

"Oh I have…" Neil says almost sheepishly as they all stand around looking at one another, he pulls the ring in its box from his pocket handing it over to Caroline.

She opens it and lets out a tiny gasp. "How can you afford this, it's stunning."

"I can't really." Neil admits. "But she's worth every bit and more, she deserves it."

"I couldn't ask for anyone better for my only daughter." Douglas says suddenly.

Embarrassed Neil looks to the floor. "Thank you." There's more he feels he has to say. "You don't have to worry, I'm going to take good care of her, treat her…"

"We know that, we have no doubt about that." Douglas interrupts him.

"When are you going to…?" Caroline fades.

"I don't know." Neil takes back the ring box and looks at it in his hands. "I was planning to the Monday you arrived." Caroline Dunbar playfully hits her husband's upper arm, he looks sheepish. "I wanted to ask what I just have, before now but I didn't know you and over the phone didn't seem appropriate to introduce myself or ask. I couldn't lie to Andrea and fly up here as much as I would have liked to." Neil looks to Douglas. "So in a way your arrival was a good thing." Caroline laughs.

"I'm going to go home and think about the when and where but I've realised it doesn't matter, it's the question and answer that are important."

"I suppose Andrea staying for a while is a good thing then, in that respect." Caroline offers.

"It does give me some time." Neil's face makes it obvious he wishes she wasn't staying.

"How long is she staying?" It strikes Neil as strange when Caroline asks, he'd imagined Andrea would have told her mother how long she was staying or that Caroline would have asked.

"I don't know, I don't think she knows." Neil answers non-committingly.

"We won't keep her long, promise." Andrea's mother jokes and Neil smiles, the conversation has become slightly uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you want to join this crazy family?" Douglas joins the joking.

"Never been as sure of anything before," Neil is quiet and serious. As sure as Andrea's belief in Douglas' innocence he thinks to himself.

We should have some champagne or something, celebrate." Caroline perks up.

"Let's wait until Andrea says yes." Neil answers confidently. "I should get to sleep."

Caroline Dunbar embraces Neil again and calls him son; Douglas does the same thanking him and welcoming him into the family.

"Goodnight," Neil says. He goes up to the bedroom feeling a little nervous for some reason, maybe because now he has to follow through, not that he plans to back out, just that niggling with the way he and Andrea have been for the last fortnight. He definitely feels welcome.

"Where'd you go?" Andrea asks sleepily when he walks lightly back into the room.

"I left a sock in the tumble dryer." He makes up as he puts the ring back.

"Are you coming to bed?"

Neil doesn't answer her, looking back from his packing, it can wait till the morning, and he climbs into bed next to her.

* * *


	29. Chapter 29

* * *

Neil wakes the next morning to the bed gently depressing next to him. "Morning," He says lethargically. "Is it time to get up?"

"I set both alarms." Andrea says and Neil grins, it's more of the old Andrea back. He certainly doesn't expect her to groan.

"Are you sure you didn't wash your clothes in my stomach last night?" Neil pulls her closer.

"Still feeling off?"

"Yeah, it's just an upset stomach now," She explains. Neil turns her over to look at her.

"You look pale and washed out; you should go see a doctor today." Andrea makes a non-committing reply, happy to lie with Neil until the alarm starts screeching.

* * *

In the car Andrea is quiet; she sits in the back with Neil having convinced her father to drive. Neil has the uneasy feeling she's slipped back into the way she's been for the past week but on the eve of saying goodbye for who knows how long, Neil tells himself he's being paranoid. He certainly doesn't want to give Andrea a reason to lengthen her stay. 

"Will you be alright to get home from the airport?" She asks suddenly, turning to look at him.

"The car's there." He says turning to look at her.

"Got your keys?" She asks with a wide smile which Neil reflects when he nods.

"Do you want me to deal with work for you?" His ulterior motive is if she says yes, he will get a coming home date out of her.

"Thanks, I'll take care of it." No sooner has she finished she goes back to looking out the window.

"The fridge is probably empty." Andrea says jokingly a few minutes later, turning to Neil again.

"So what's new, it wouldn't be home otherwise." He replies nostalgically. That's the end of the conversation again.

* * *

They pass through the airport formalities as a group, only a few necessary words are spoken between the four of them. At the boarding gate they're forced to sit separately, Neil slips his hand into Andrea's as they wait in silence. He looks across to Douglas and Caroline who are talking casually. 

"Your dad looks happier today." Neil says off-handedly. "The visit to pay his respects must have worked and your words of wisdom." What Neil can't tell her is he thinks it's about what he asked Douglas last night.

"He's putting on a brave face." Andrea corrects him politely, looking to her father for a second. At the counter of the boarding gate, Neil notices the flight is about to be called.

"Will you call me when you're coming home so I can come and pick you up from the airport?" Neil asks leaning closer.

Andrea nods in reply and Neil's flight is called.

He goes to Caroline and Douglas first, who have come over. Douglas shakes his hand then embraces Neil again, he says another unnecessary thanks.

"We'll see you soon." Caroline Dunbar says with a secret smile that refers to an engagement celebration or wedding.

They steps back, leaving Andrea and Neil as much space as possible in the crowded departure gate area.

"It's not too late to reconsider." Neil says softly. "Jake will be disappointed."

A last ditch effort Neil knows will be unsuccessful, she's made up her mind but he has to try anyway.

"I know but…" She stretches out the words, not wanting to have to go through her reasons again.

"Yeah," Neil forces a smile.

"Will you call me when you get in?" Andrea requests which puts Neil a little more at ease, it's another glimpse to the old Andrea.

"And every day till you come home." Neil adds and Andrea replies with 'yes'.

"When you come home let's sit down and talk." After he's said it he thinks it might be the reason the good bye will end on a sour note.

"Sure." She says quickly and Neil gets a wash of bad feeling.

"I love you." Neil says cupping her face in his hands.

"I love you too." She's reluctant to look at him but her words are genuine and Neil thinks he sees a small tear pooling in one eye. None of it deters Neil from kissing her goodbye, engaging her in a more passionate one that they've shared in the past few days.

"Come home soon, I'm going to miss you." He almost whispers letting his hands drop.

"Bye."

"Bye."

Andrea watches until Neil has disappeared through the departure gate, Neil looks back before he is gone.

* * *

Andrea is silent on the trip back, she looks out the window the entire way once again and doesn't notice her mother glancing occasionally in the rear view mirror, the fact is she now feel a little empty, that's been filled by nausea reaching new strength. 

Her mother breezes inside the house, her father moves hastily as well; they'd both postponed the start of their day to farewell Neil. Andrea curls up on the sofa in the foetal position trying to rid herself of her nausea. When Douglas comes to say goodbye he asks if she's alright, Andrea brushes it off as just being tired. She doesn't need to worry him he has to get to work and pick up his car this afternoon.

"Andrea I'm going to the bookstore, do you want to come with me?" Her mother calls not ten minutes later. Andrea had been trying to rid her nausea by placing her knees above her waist and just concentrating on her breathing. Her mother shatters that.

Andrea doesn't answer, she waits till her mother is in the room, she just doesn't feel she can, the nausea is consuming everything.

"I'm not feeling great mum, I'm just going to stay here. Have you got anything to settle my stomach?" Andrea manages to pull herself up.

"In the bathroom," Her mother says and heads straight back to the kitchen again.

Upstairs Andrea opens the cupboard doors but that's all she can manage, she hangs her head over the basin, the nausea taking over.

"It won't help." Caroline Dunbar says and Andrea manages to look up.

"What?" Her mouth feels dry.

"They have yet to invent anything to cure nausea that's caused by hormones going wild." Andrea can't think all she can hear is her mother being cryptic.

"Mum, I…"

"Have you considered taking a pregnancy test?" The suggestion makes Andrea feel light headed, not to mention surprised.

"What's the look for?" Caroline helps her daughter to the toilet where she puts the lid down on for Andrea to sit on. "You think I think you and Neil have matching twin beds."

"I don't…how…?" Andrea doesn't know which to say first.

"I suspected from the moment Neil told me your symptoms and you're having exactly the same reaction as I did with you three kids." Caroline smiles, despite Andrea's discomfort.

"We're careful mum." Andrea puts her arm on the wall next to her to steady herself though it's only in her head she's wobbly and light headed, not the rest of her.

"Did you take a pill today?" Caroline asks leaving her daughter to dig out an old hot water bottle she remembers she has in the closet in the hall.

"I forgot to bring them with me." Andrea says though semi clenched teeth.

"It's probably not the first time you've forgotten to take one either." Her mother says non-judgementally, the last thing Andrea wants is to admit she's correct. Ironically some of the mornings she has forgotten to take The Pill coincide with mornings she and Neil get caught up in each other a little more than usual.

"Do you want me to pick you up a test after I finish at the bookstore?" Caroline asks coming back into the bathroom.

"I'll go get one, when this has passed." Andrea says determinedly.

"The store will be closed by the time you feel better, trust me, this is one thing you did get from me." Caroline helps Andrea up. "Come on, off to bed."

Andrea doesn't object or fight, she curls up under the duvet. "I'll fill this and bring it up to you, you'll be o.k. when I'm gone won't you?"

Andrea nods.

"I'll get that test; no one's going to believe it's for me anyway." She finds that fact funny.

"I want to get it mum." Andrea says as firmly as she can. Her mother nods and goes to fill the hot water bottle.

When she comes back, Caroline's purse is clenched securely in her hand not holding the hot water bottle. She eases herself onto the edge of the bed and Andrea takes the hot water bottle gratefully.

"You must have suspected Andrea, why couldn't you tell me?" There's an element of hurt in her mother's voice.

"I thought it was about dad." Andrea manages.

"Well in that case it must now be about the fact Neil's gone and you've pushed him away." Andrea does her best to ignore the words, she doesn't think she could feel any worse but she doesn't want to test the theory.

"That was a quick goodbye you gave Neil at the airport." Caroline Dunbar presses.

"Not now mum," Andrea near moans.

"This is not about your father anymore is it, you're not staying because of him, it's about Neil, you're avoiding him, you see problems in your relationship, problems you don't think can be fixed so you've decided to stay here and avoid them, behind the lie that you're here for your father. You were just pretending everything's fine at the airport."

Andrea says nothing.

"You seemed fine yesterday and today you were a little more distant again, you knew he was going, what are you doing Andrea? Surely you're not thinking of ending your relationship with Neil." Caroline sounds angry, "Especially now."

"I might just be sick mum and you have no idea what my relationship with Neil is really like." Andrea sounds just as annoyed as her mother.

"You're giving Neil hope that you'll come home to him soon." Mother berates her daughter. "You're not being honest, today you acted like things are o.k. again and Neil went back to London with that. You're doing what you said you don't like that you do, avoiding talking about things."

"I was the way I was with Neil because I do love him, it's not an act, I'm not lying to him, I'm not protecting him, and I'm not covering up anything." Andrea defends herself, and then it occurs to her.

"How do you know all this?" Andrea asks not wanting the answer.

"You're expressions speak loud and clear Andrea, I could see something was going on between you and Neil almost as soon as he walked through the door, you tried to cover, like you did today." Caroline pauses. "Neil and I talked also, which is more than I can say for you." Immediately Andrea puts her head up. "You can't be angry with him, I offered and frankly seeing as you weren't talking I pushed. He needed someone to talk to, all you would tell me is you weren't sure, you probably weren't saying much more to him."

Andrea puts her head back down.

"He was feeling isolated Andrea, unsure; he needed to tell someone, to have some reassurance." Caroline is more than happy to tell Andrea what she thinks she needs to hear.

"Now you've acted all affectionate, you've given him hope that things are getting better between you. If you go home now and say it's all over and kick him out you'll hurt him, especially after he's been so good to you for the past fortnight, you'll hurt him immensely, and I didn't think you ever wanted to do that to him again."

A few moments later when Andrea hasn't answered Caroline Dunbar gets up.

"Feel better sweetheart." She says and leaves the room only to come back a few seconds later. "Congratulations by the way," She says, this time she leaves for the bookstore.

* * *

By early afternoon Andrea feels well enough to go out, grateful for the fact she was able to sleep through some of the morning. It's of equal comfort to her than no one knows her in Dalkeith anymore; she doesn't have to look over her shoulder as she strolls the aisle like she might at home in order to keep a secret. 

While this is not the unknown that her father's situation was, she attacks it as she usually would, head on without fear; she selects a suitable box, pays and takes it home. In the bathroom upstairs she takes the test.

Two blocks away Caroline Dunbar stares at the phone of the business she works semi-regularly at. She's been wrestling with herself on whether to call Neil and tell him the cause of Andrea's nausea. With everything that had been going on, neither had connected the two. Not surprising as there was other evidence – much stronger evidence. Getting him back up here would force Andrea to confront their issues instead of hiding. She tells herself it's not her job, not her right to tell and she's right, Andrea would be furious with her. It could cause more trouble; she just hopes Andrea can find her way back to Neil. Caroline lifts her hand from the phone she was going to dial as a new customer comes in; she pushes everything else to the back of her mind.

As Andrea stares at the results of her pregnancy test she realises she's had neither strong feelings against or for having a child since her mother raised the possibility and that continues.

She hasn't thought about what it might mean for her and Neil, not just in their current conflicted situation but if everything were good between them, if it were two, three, five years from now or earlier. The economic and social impacts of a child, how Jake would take the news, her job, the fact she's not married, even Philippa. As Andrea stares at the test that reads inconclusive she realises she hasn't considered one thing about being pregnant, as if some deep mysterious part of her brain refuses to process or entertain the notion, it's too busy focusing on the nausea and perceived unlikelihood it's true.

Despite expressing a desire for more children, Andrea's not sure how Neil would react. She's not sure she could do it on her own if she couldn't be with him either and she's not moving back to Dalkeith. She's just come up for air from everything else and now she's faced with the possibility of complications again.

As Andrea takes the second of three tests from the box she knows she will have to change and start thinking about it now.

* * *


	30. Chapter 30

* * *

That night when Caroline Dunbar hears the front door open and close she looks up a few minutes later to her husband.

"Bad day?" She asks in response to his down face.

"No more than usual." He hunts through the fridge for something to eat despite it being close to the meal Caroline is cooking.

"What do you think about Andrea staying on?" She asks stopping what she's doing.

"It's o.k. with me, if that's what she wants." His voice indicates a shrug.

"Oh Doug," His wife sighs and immediately gets his attention, he doesn't like the shortened form of his name and his wife only uses it when she's unhappy with him – he has Carol. "You've got to buck up and get over whatever it is you're stuck on because Andrea says she's here to support you but she's really here avoiding Neil, she's thinking about ending things between them."

"What's that got to do with me, because I went down there?" He says slowly.

"She's using you as the reason to hide here instead of being honest. If you're fine she has no reason to be here and she should be encouraged to go home."

"It's not really our business Caroline; we should stay out of it." Douglas reminds her of what she already knows.

"Have you forgotten Neil is going to propose, if she stays here she'll almost certainly decide to end things, she needs to go home and talk and sort out her issues and then if…" Caroline trails off. "She loves him." Countering her words, "She just needs some gentle encouragement and coming from me it will fall on deaf ears, she trusts you and you to talk to more than me."

Despite the plea Douglas Dunbar looks hesitant.

"I'm almost certain she's pregnant." Caroline adds weight to her argument.

At the prospect of becoming a grandparent for the first time, Douglas Dunbar smiles across the room at his wife.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Caroline is gentle and compassionate in her question as she watches Andrea get ready for bed that night. 

"I'm fine," Andrea near snaps as she turns down the bed.

"Did you take the test?" The cool reception doesn't stop Caroline and Andrea doesn't answer. "Have you decided when you're going home?" Again she's gentle.

This time Andrea replies, "I want to stay a little longer."

Caroline Dunbar sinks inside; her words are yet to get through. "Why?" She asks knowing there's little chance of getting the truth. Andrea opens her mouth but nothing comes out. "There's no need for you to be here Andrea, you're father's fine. I don't want to sound like I don't want you here, it's great to have you but we don't need you to survive, we cope fine without you."

"So why is it each time I get on the phone it's as if I should be here more?" Andrea accuses.

"It's a mother's wish Andrea, I just wish we'd talk more often, I wish you were here more often, not that I expect you to be, you have your own life in London, a job you love, a man who loves you and whom you love and a family…"

"Who?" Andrea appears confused.

"Jake," Caroline Dunbar says like it should be obvious.

"Jake, no," Andrea says quietly. "Jake doesn't like me, he doesn't accept me, not that I can blame him.

"The first day Neil walked into this house and we talked in the kitchen he told me about the years you were patient and how Jake is really warming to you and how happy he is that you and Jake get along and like one another." The fact Neil shared that information surprises Andrea less now she knows he's talked with her mother.

"We're different people mum, Neil and I, we're too different, and he's never forgiven me for lying to him. All the big issues we've been through we never talk about them, we just find our way back to this comfortable place because we don't want them to ruin us, but each time something big affects us history comes back again. He doesn't trust me mum; he didn't support me through this thing with dad…" Andrea's cut off.

"How can you say that?" Caroline Dunbar becomes frustrated and a little angry again. "From everything I've seen and Neil's told me he's affectionate, loving, he trusts you absolutely and he's supported you every step of the way. I don't think you could reasonably expect more from him."

Andrea just shakes her head, no. She explains in detail about how they were through Neil's divorce, Jake and her lies, it's not new information to Caroline Dunbar though she is relieved it's not different.

"Andrea…Neil…" Caroline stops herself, she can't tell her daughter Neil has asked Douglas for her hand in marriage, a decision based on that wouldn't be the right way to make it, nor would a decision made on their child. Though Andrea won't confirm it, Caroline is more than confidant Andrea is pregnant. A decision shouldn't be made out of obligation nor can she spoil the surprise. "…loves you."

"Yeah but that's not always enough." Andrea mumbles.

"You have to make a decision – if all those things you mentioned you can't get past and you don't love Neil anymore then…but you can't hide out here forever." Caroline Dunbar goes to say more but she doesn't need to, Andrea already knows what she means, she's hiding out in Dalkeith like her father did with her in London. "You have a man that loves you in London, a man who wishes he'd met you first." Caroline pauses as the new information has the affect on Andrea she hoped it would. "And now you're going to have his child, your child." Again she waits hoping her words will engrain themselves into her daughter. "You need to go home and talk to Neil and try and work things out, then make a decision. Life isn't smooth; God knows your father's and mine hasn't been this is just another example."

Andrea looks down to her feet that hang over the edge of the bed. "Take a step back, think about Neil's actions and what he's been trying to do, you've been so worked up and stressed about everything I don't think you've been seeing things objectively. You're scared you're going to hurt Neil again after your job at the Daily News and you're thinking this might be the same again, so you've pushed him away, to protect him but that won't stop you hurting him." Andrea doesn't look up.

"You told me about what went on after you lied, the divorce and Jake, what about the other side. There must have been something really good and really strong between you two to stick it out."

"No one's saying we don't love one another." Andrea shakes her head.

"Well isn't that worth holding onto?" To Caroline it seems obvious, Andrea takes a few moments before she says anything again.

"When I first met Neil and we started seeing one another he was still married?" Slowly Andrea looks to her mother for a reaction.

"Did you expect me to be shocked or not approve?" Caroline asks.

"I don't know." Andrea says slowly, looking down again.

"All my life Andrea you've never felt comfortable talking to me, you're my daughter, my only daughter and it's hurt sometimes. It's always been your dad but I've always been here for you if you decided to change your mind." Caroline chokes up a little. "You've never disappointed me Andrea, your life is your own and the choices and decisions you make I fully support you in, always have, and always will. I would love for you to open up to me and talk sometime." Andrea shifts herself, slipping her legs under the covers.

"If you can't talk to anyone but your father it's no wonder you can't talk to Neil and that damn job at the Daily News has made you accustomed to keeping things to yourself, to protect people."

Caroline sits herself on the edge of the bed, she lifts Andrea's chin so she's looking at her. "God Andrea, the man puts up with you…happily and through all of this and he still wants you and loves you, the rest will work itself out, go home and sit on the sofa and talk to him." Caroline implores.

"I'm not sure it will work out." Andrea says before lying down and pulling the duvet up around her.

On the edge of the bed, Caroline Dunbar sighs heavily. "Like father, like daughter."

* * *

The End. 


	31. Epilogue

_

* * *

Reason for the epilogue: Because the other ending was good but everyone (myself included) loves a happy ending. There were a few threads that were left hanging I've tied up. I was spurred on by Fabio who chanted…a first for me, cheers. If you liked the end of Chapter 30 and were more than happy, don't read on, if you can resist. LAUREN. _

* * *

Andrea chooses to travel in the afternoon to avoid being nauseous on the plane, she finds herself at the back of the plane alone, as a result of her last minute booking. The hostess with the impossible smile offers her something to eat but Andrea has neither the inclination nor appetite. 

There's no one to meet her at the airport, she doesn't smile nor does she frown as she makes her way through the throngs of waiting friends and family at the arrival gate. She makes her way to the choices of transport to get her home. Money doesn't matter; she just wants to be home so she takes the most comfortable option.

No one welcomes her when she arrives at the front of her block of flats, she didn't call so she's not expected. It's not that she wanted to surprise anyone; she just didn't want to deal with anything unless it was face to face.

She smiles for the first time since leaving Dalkeith as she looks up at one of her flat windows, she'd wanted to come home, not urgently, but she'd glad to be here now.

Andrea struggles with her luggage up the stairs, as she had carrying them down, at the top she digs out her keys and unlocks the front door.

She's not expecting anyone to be waiting to welcome her home but she is expecting to be welcome and for someone to be in the flat.

She drags her bags inside the door, looking first into the kitchen that's neat and clean and then into the living room that's exactly the same, the bedrooms and bathroom are empty. Andrea puts her luggage down and starts to feel a little anxious. She thinks of Neil asking her was she going to ask him to move out, she starts to entertain the thought he's gone and done so on his own.

She moves hastily to the kitchen looking for his keys and wallet, they're not in their usual spot and she starts to feel nauseous, not the same nausea that's accompanied her for the past week or so, it's one derived from anxiety. She hurries to the bedroom, flinging open the wardrobe doors, he's clothes are still all there, work suits lined up neatly, casual clothes next to them. She starts to feel a little better but not completely. She turns and looks at the clock, it's almost five, she imagines they might be out and staying out to eat and it's not as though there was a need for a note to explain their absence.

"I can so kick a ball." A primary school voice says suddenly.

"You missed three times." An adult make says and the front door to the flat closes loudly.

Laughter rings out through the flat and Andrea starts to cry.

She comes to the bedroom doorway, watching Neil joking with his son; they have yet to see her. She continues crying, she can't help it, she's relieved to see them, she's happy to be here and also to see them. As she steps towards them Neil hears her looking up, the surprise on his face is obvious, it can't last long as Andrea throws herself into his arms, once he comes down from the over whelming surprise he pulls her in tighter, breathing in her scent from the side of her neck.

"Hi." He says working a happily delighted laugh in as Andrea continues to cry over his shoulder. "It's so good to have you home. I didn't expect you, I called yesterday when I got home but you didn't answer."

"I was doing something important." Andrea starts to calm, she looks to her side where Jake stands looking up at her. "Hi Jake," She says still a little emotional.

"Hi Andrea," He grins up at her; she can't help but smile back. "I'm glad you're here."

Slowly Neil lets Andrea go, yet keeping his arms around her middle so she won't run away again, he looks at her face before asking. "Are you o.k.?"

"I've never been better." She beams embracing Neil again, new tears falling. "I'm home, for good." At that Neil presses a kiss to the side of her head.

"That's good." Neil sighs holding her face gently in his hands. "I have some things I need to tell you."

Andrea replies immediately. "Me too, but you first."

"Jake give us a moment can you?" Neil asks his son kindly.

"Can I have ice-cream tonight?" Jake knows an opportunity when he sees one.

"Yes." Neil says and smiles back at Andrea who's beaming at him not noticing Jake trundle his way into his room, it's more of a smile for each other than Jake's opportunistic ways.

Neil takes both Andrea's hands in his. "Your job at the Daily News, I understand why you did what you did, why you kept it from me and I forgive you, I do and I trust you – unconditionally. I never said thank you for being so patient and understanding with what I had to do for Jake, I know it was hard for you to adjust and I appreciate it more than you know and…" Neil looks down at the floor and draws a deep breath. "My divorce was some of the darkest days of my life, it was a huge change for me, I was scared for Jake and how it might affect him, I was scared you'd find it too hard and leave me and I'd lose you, you – everything in my life. But you stuck by me and through it you never once complained. You have no idea how much I leaned on you and needed you during that time and I never once thanked you."

Andrea nods once, then opens her mouth but nothing comes out, fresh tears spring into her eyes and she places her palm on Neil's cheek, he covers it with his hand.

"I'm sorry." Andrea chokes on a sob.

"For what?" Neil sighs smiling, indicating she really has nothing to apologise for.

"I never wanted us to split up; I never wanted you to leave. I love you so much." Tears run down Andrea's face.

"I know that." Neil smiles reassuringly.

"I'm sorry for everything in the past and with dad." Instantly Neil takes her into his arms.

"No need." Neil forgives. "I love you, all of you, the good, the bad, whatever. I want to be there for you, support you, love you, have a future with you, have children with you, grow old and grey with you."

"Me too," Andrea's muffled response comes out.

"I've put you through so much." Neil sighs regretfully.

"Me too," Andrea repeats, adding a small laugh.

"Guess we deserve one another then." Neil jokes, they hold each other till Neil feels confidant to do what he's wanted to do for a few weeks now.

"Come here." Neil guides Andrea to the living room, leaving her standing behind the sofa. She waits as Neil disappears into their bedroom, when he comes back nothing about him or on him appears to have changed.

He stands in front of Andrea looking serious and Andrea can't help but feel a little nervous. He breathes deeply looking to the floor then forces himself to look up again.

"I don't know why I did that, I don't need it." He slides his hand into his pocket and pulls out the ring in its box as he eases himself onto one knee.

From the very second Neil starts to ease himself onto one knee, Andrea begins crying again. Neil keeps his eyes on Andrea as he opens the ring box holding it up to her. Andrea's hand covers her mouth, shocked at the ring despite it being slightly blurred through tears.

"Andrea Catherine Dunbar. I love you, so much I could never measure it and each day I love you more and more. Will you do me the honour of marrying me, being my wife and allowing me to be your husband?" Neil's voice wobbles with emotion.

"Stand up." Andrea asks gently through an emotion filled voice. She takes the ring from Neil as he stands, her index finger gently traces over the diamond setting, tears continuing to flow, Neil looks at her seriously, waiting for what he hopes will be an affirmative answer.

"Say yes Andrea." A young voice says both Andrea and Neil turn in the direction of the voice to see Jake in his bedroom doorway, smiling and nodding.

"Well how can I say no to that?" Andrea says turning from Jake back to Neil who looks overwhelmed and overjoyed.

"Yes?" He confirms and with Andrea's nod scoops her into his arms, Andrea feels a tear or two of Neil's on her neck. A bump against their sides a few minutes later is Jake who wraps his arms around their legs.

"Here." Neil says taking the ring from Andrea's hand and its box, slipping it on her finger. He kisses her sweetly and passionately after admiring the ring on her finger, both are still aware of Jake clinging to them.

"Are you ready for life to be more complicated?" Neil asks face to face with Andrea having reluctantly broken off their kiss. "I want you and me and Jake to be a family, more of a family, I want him to spend more time with us here."

Andrea bites her bottom lip, looking down at the new ring, "I guess I'll have to." She says and leaves an agonising pause that leads Neil to believe she's not really happy with the idea. "I'm pregnant."

Shock quickly gives way to excitement and joy on Neil's face. "You're pregnant, your nausea." He makes the connection, face beaming. "We're going to have a baby." He says like it's the miracle it is, Andrea can't help but be swept up in his excitement, kissing Neil with fervour equal to his.

"Is it a brother, can we share a room?" Jake asks suddenly, Neil and Andrea laugh against one another's lips.

For the moment Jake doesn't exist, Neil gazes dreamily and lovingly at Andrea, brushing her hair aside. "We're going to need a bigger place."

"We're going to need baby things, lots of baby things," Andrea smiles.

"How far?" Neil asks slowly resting a hand against Andrea's abdomen.

"I don't know, not long, pick a morning." She smiles looking down at Neil's hand. "I have to go have a check-up…" Andrea pauses and turns serious. "I thought you might be mad, I'm not very good at taking The Pill."

"How could I be angry," Neil stokes Andrea's face. "This is the best news since you said you'd marry me…" Neil pauses as well, a wide smile spreading over his face. "Besides I think I might be partially responsible for you not taking your pill some mornings."

"You're going to have to meet my parents and my sister," Neil smiles.

"You haven't met my brothers." Andrea equals.

"I'll meet them at the wedding." Neil reminds her there will be one, Andrea smiles back at him. "Shotgun?"

"I'm not going to be fat in my wedding photos." Andrea says with a small laugh.

"It'll be soon." Neil deduces softly. "I'm glad, I can't wait until you're Mrs. Andrea Catherine Manson."

"Neither can I," Andrea says in the same tone. Lost in each other their gaze cannot be broken.

"Get your dad to give you away?" Neil asks. "He'll be a grandfather soon."

"He knows, they know." Andrea says reluctantly, smiling when Neil does.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Andrea is it a brother, am I getting a brother?" Jake speaks up again pulling at Andrea's shirt.

As Andrea leans down to Jake's level she laughs. "I can't tell Jake."

"Why not?" He asks curiously.

"Because your brother or sister is only about this big," Andrea makes a circle with her thumb and index finger.

Out of the blue Jake latches himself onto Andrea who is taken by surprise, a few seconds later she puts her arms around him, he's small and light and smells like fresh cut grass. Looking back Andrea sees the first evidence of Neil's tears, this time for Jake and Andrea embracing.

"Can I show you my surprises now Andrea?" Jake asks excited when he lets her go.

"O.k. but then your dad and I will have to talk." Andrea looks back to Neil who nods; they both know they need to talk things out irrespective of the apologies shared not long after Andrea's welcome home.

"How about you go to Mitchell's for an hour?" Neil suggests and Andrea shoots him a look.

"Doesn't Mitchell have pizza on Saturday night, what if I arrange for you to stay, your dad and I have a lot to talk about, so much we might get tired and have to have a little nap." Andrea shoots another look to Neil, the innuendo is understood.

"Can I stay over night?" Jake asks excited.

"I think so, you go to Mitchell's now and I'll call his mum and organise it." Neil appears enthusiastic for Jake who forgets his surprises for Andrea and runs out of the flat.

When he's gone Neil looks to Andrea sighing happily. She steps to him, leaning against him with their arms around one another.

"So what do you want a boy or a girl." Andrea asks.

"How about a daughter like her mother and a son like his father?"

* * *

The End...I mean it this time. 


End file.
